Royal Albatross

The Royal Albatross is one of the largest albatross species, rivaling the Wandering Albatross in size, with a wingspan approaching 3 meters (10 ft). Adults are largely white, with black upper-wing surfaces in the Southern subspecies, and a heavy, pale pink bill with a distinctive black line along the cutting edge of the upper mandible.

This magnificent seabird is closely associated with New Zealand, where its most famous colony at Taiaroa Head on the South Island is the only mainland albatross breeding site inhabited by humans nearby, allowing visitors a rare close view of nesting albatrosses.

Like other great albatrosses, Royal Albatrosses are supremely adapted for long-distance gliding flight, spending the vast majority of their long lives at sea.

Key field marks

• Large size with a mostly white body
• Black upperwing surfaces (in adult Southern Royal Albatross), contrasting with white underwing
• Pale pink bill with a fine black line along the cutting edge of the upper mandible

Similar species

• Wandering Albatross is extremely similar in size and overall whiteness but lacks the black cutting-edge line on the bill and shows a different, more variable upperwing molt pattern that whitens with age.
• Northern Royal Albatross, sometimes treated as a separate species, has more black on the upperwing than the Southern Royal Albatross even as an adult.

Royal Albatrosses breed mainly on islands near New Zealand, including the Auckland, Campbell, and Chatham Islands, with a small, well-known mainland colony at Taiaroa Head near Dunedin. Nests are built on open, grassy or tussock-covered slopes exposed to strong winds needed for takeoff and landing.

Outside the breeding season, Royal Albatrosses range widely across the Southern Ocean, with some individuals crossing entire ocean basins on extended foraging trips before returning to New Zealand waters to breed.

Voice

Royal Albatrosses perform ritualized courtship displays at the colony involving bill-clacking, mutual preening, and loud braying calls, but are largely silent while at sea.

Feeding

They feed on squid, fish, and crustaceans taken from the ocean surface, and will also scavenge carrion, sometimes following fishing vessels for discarded catch.

Nesting and breeding

Pairs form enduring bonds and, like other great albatrosses, breed only every second year because chick-rearing takes close to a year to complete. A single egg is laid on a mound nest of vegetation and mud, with both parents sharing incubation and feeding duties.