Bird Guide

Snowy Albatross vs Southern Royal Albatross

Snowy Albatross (Diomedea exulans)

Snowy Albatross

Diomedea exulans

Huge7.0 kgMarine

The plumage varies with age, with the juveniles starting chocolate brown. As they age they become whiter. The adults have white bodies with white and black wings. Males have whiter wings than females, with just the tips and trailing edges of the wings black. The snowy albatross is the whitest of the wandering albatross species complex, the other species having a great deal more brown and black on the wings and body, very closely resembling immature wandering albatrosses. The large bill is pink, as are the feet.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Marie-Lan Taÿ Pamart · CC BY 4.0
Southern Royal Albatross (Diomedea epomophora)

Southern Royal Albatross

Diomedea epomophora

Huge8.9 kgMarine

The southern royal albatross has a length of 112 to 123 cm (44–48 in) and a mean weight of 8.5 kg (19 lb). At Campbell Island, 11 males were found to have a mean mass of 10.3 kg (23 lb) and 7 females were found to have a mean mass of 7.7 kg (17 lb), thus may be heavier on average than most colonies of wandering albatross. Males are about 2 to 3 kg (4.4 to 6.6 lb) heavier than females. Average wingspan has been reported from 2.9 to 3.28 m (9.5 to 10.8 ft), with an upper limit of about 3.50 m (11.5 ft).

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Albatross2147 at English Wikipedia · Public domain

Where you might meet both

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Snowy Albatross and Southern Royal Albatross.