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Chatham Albatross

Thalassarche eremita

Photo by triggsturner
Published on Project Noah
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Field Notes

Description:

A medium sized albatross showing uniformly dark grey head and neck with a bright yellow bill with a prominent black spot on the end of the lower mandible.

Habitat:

The whole world population breeds on one small rock called 'The Pyramid' in the Chatham Islands (last image). after breeding these birds disperse into South American waters for the winter although odd records of them in Australian and recently South African waters exist.

Notes:

This species has been split from the White-capped and Salvins Albatross.

Reference Links:

Chatham albatross, Chatham Albatross (Thalassarche eremita) - BirdLife species factsheet

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (35)
triggsturner
Thank you Mark. I will post some other species in due course.
triggsturner
I have started a Mission on tube-nosed seabirds (albatross, petrels etc.) if anyone would care to check it out and if you spot one of these wonderful birds i would love to hear from you. Robert
triggsturner
Thank you to every one who has commented and favorited both here and through the PN page on Facebook.
AshleyT
Congrats Robert, well deserved! You are among the awesome images of such wonderful creatures with this guy, makes sense for you to get sotw :) Albatross are such neat animals, I hope to get to see some myself one day!
Caleb Steindel
Fabulous series, triggsturner, congrats on the well-deserved honor and thanks for sharing!
Desmond.E.S.O
Congrats! Thanks for the Sharing such a beautiful bird!
triggsturner
Wow, I feel very honoured. There are such awesome images of such wonderful organisms on this site appearing all the time and to get SOTW has totally made my week. Thank you all for your comments. Robert.
Mark Ridgway
Congrats on the SOTW Rob. Still boggling over that rock. Such a tiny ledge supporting a whole species. A few fat seals would take out that real estate in a blink.
JoshuaGSmith
Wow!!!! Congrats Rob! What an honor. Well deserved!
SukanyaDatta
So THAT's what the Pyramid is!!! Had been wondering :) . Thank you for sharing...marvelling at how fragile the entire system is...just this one place that they breed on...
Yasser
Congratulations Rob! This sensational series has been selected as our Spotting of the Week! We're very lucky to have you share your experience and extra lucky to get that Pyramid snap as well. I can only imagine the experience. Congrats again and we look forward to your next series! We've also shared the news with our Facebook and Twitter friends. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/projectnoah/photos/a.10150595289465603.674700.10150120463815603/10155436074090603 Twitter: https://twitter.com/projectnoah/status/587469361033674752
triggsturner
Thank you Leuba for your great comment. I am glad you liked them.
Mark Ridgway
Ha! It looks so much like a pyramid it's funny. Thanks. :-)
Mark Ridgway
Sure if you have a shot of The Pyramid that would be a superb addition. Looking forward to it.
triggsturner
Hi Joshua, camera rig fairly basic. a Cannon 60D with a 100-400mm zoom. However yes, they were floating on the wind just astern of the boat and at full zoom could only fit the head into the frame. NZ has the best pelagic birding on the planet in my unbiased view :)
JoshuaGSmith
Your welcome. New Zealand would be an ultimate place to bird. I really like your photos, you either have the best camera rig on earth or the albatross was floating in midair (or both?)!
triggsturner
Thank you Joshua. Yes, a very special bird. Robert
triggsturner
Thanks Mark. Yes was in a relatively small boat in a huge ocean. It was a wonderful experience albeit character building!. I have other albatross species documented as well and got to see a Magenta Petrel close up. Should I add a pic of The Pyramid to this spotting do you think? Rob.
Leuba Ridgway
Fantastic spotting ! can't help seeing two birds in one - a larger bird's head jammed on to a smaller body. Just love the plumage. Thanks for sharing this and the great information triggsturner.
Mark Ridgway
They breed only on a tiny rock stack at the Chathams called 'The Pyramid'
Mark Ridgway
Super spotting Rob. We don't see much from the Chathams even though those tiny islands have several unique endemics. Thanks for sharing this. How did you get there? Sail?
Fyn Kynd
Your spotting has been nominated for the Spotting of the Week. The winner will be chosen by the Project Noah Rangers based on a combination of factors including: uniqueness of the shot, status of the organism (for example, rare or endangered), quality of the information provided in the habitat and description sections. There is a subjective element, of course; the spotting with the highest number of Ranger votes is chosen. Congratulations on being nominated!
triggsturner
Thank you Sergio. It is a beautiful bird and am so pleased to have shared your favorite. Robert.
Sergio Monteiro
My favorite bird in the world. Congrats for the beautiful series.
AshleyT
Great photos of this beautiful bird!
Photographed
PublishedApril 10, 2015

Spotted for Missions

Mission
Birds of the World
Mission
Flora and Fauna of New Zealand
Mission
Mission WILD
Mission
National Geographic's Great Nature Project
Mission
Tube-nosed Seabirds

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