Black-browed Albatross Identification Challenge

ID CHALLENGE 13 September 2020 – Advanced by Karen Dick

This large bird is a regular on Eaglehawk Pelagics in Tasmania. Such a striking bird and often happy to sit by the boat while we berley.

Black-browed Albatross Eaglehawk Tasmania by Karen Dick

Solution:

This bird caused a bit of a rift in the ID stakes. Everyone got to Albatross straight away, which was fairly straightforward from the size of the bird and the bill, with the unobtrusive nostrils either side of the culmen. Then it came down to whether it is an immature Black-Browed Albatross (BBAL), or an immature Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross (IYNA)

The bill and the eyebrow are the key features in this bird. The extent of the black brow is more extensive than I would expect in a young Indian Yellow-nosed albatross, which is a point in favour of Black-browed Albatross.

The pink tip to the bill is a bit of a red herring, as it looks like light through the bill, rather than true colour as it would be in an Indian Yellow-nosed albatross (although in an immature IYNA, the pink tip would be much reduced anyway). For the more birdy nerdy among us, the shape of the base of the bill, where it meets the head, is angled, rather than vertical as it would be in Indian Yellow-nosed albatross (see photos 3 & 4 below).

Black-browed Albatross showing angled bill base, Eaglehawk, TAS by Karen Dick

Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross showing straight bill base, Eaglehawk, TAS by Karen Dick

So this bird is not an Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross, but could potentially be an early immature Campbell Albatross, which is hard to differentiate from Black-browed Albatross at the same age. It is easier once the eye goes pale in Campbell Albatross, in the second year.

In the second photo we can see that the axillary feathers (the ones in the armpit) are white, which rules out Campbell Albatross, so we are left with this bird being an an immature Black-browed Albatross Thalassarche melanophris.

For the very eagle-eyed among you, or cruelly those with a better memory than mine, you will realise that I posted an older, immature BBAL in a July challenge. Apologies for the repeat, but it serves to show that the same species can look pretty different at different ages.

Conservation Status:

Like most albatrosses, Black-browed Albatross is threatened. In TAS it is Endangered, in NSW & SA Vulnerable, then strangely in VIC & QLD it is considered Secure. See more here:

http://www.birdlife.org.au/bird-profile/black-browed-albatross