About the Amsterdam Albatross
The Amsterdam albatross or Amsterdam Island albatross, is a large albatross which breeds only on Amsterdam Island in the southern Indian Ocean. It was only described in 1983, and was thought by some researchers to be a subspecies of the wandering albatross, D. exulans. BirdLife International and the IOC recognize it as a species, James Clements does not, and the SACC has a proposal on the table to split the species. More recently, mitochondrial DNA comparisons between the Amsterdam albatross, the wandering albatross Diomedea exulans, the Antipodean albatross D. antipodensis and the Tristan albatross D. dabbenena, provide clear genetic evidence that the Amsterdam albatross is a separate…
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ID tip
The Amsterdam albatross is a great albatross that breeds in brown, rather than in the more usual white, plumage. This bird weighs 4.8 to 8 kg (11–18 lb) and is 107 to 122 cm (42–48 in) long with a wingspan of 280 to 340 cm (110–130 in). The adult bird has chocolate brown upper parts and is white on its face mask, throat, lower breast, and belly. It has a broad brown breast band along with brown undertail coverts. Its pink bill has a dark tip and dark cutting edges, and finally, its underwings are white except for the dark tip and the dark leading edge.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
When to see it
Peak activity in February · a variable species across most of its range
Easily confused with
Tristan AlbatrossDiomedea dabbenenaThe Tristan albatross is practically indistinguishable from the snowy albatross at sea but is smaller and has a slightly darker back.
Antipodean AlbatrossDiomedea antipodensisThe Antipodean is large, at 110 cm (43 in) in length.
Northern Royal AlbatrossDiomedea sanfordiThe northern royal albatross is typically about 115 cm (45 in) tall, weighs 6.2 to 8.2 kg (14–18 lb), and has a wingspan from 270 to 305 cm (106–120 in).
Learn the Amsterdam Albatross for real
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