Photo Salon 
T he bird featured in this Photo Salon was photographed at Per- 
petua Bank off Oregon’s coast on 13 September 2008 by Greg 
Gillson, who correctly identified it as one of the “Wandering 
Albatross” group — recorded only once before in North America, in 
California in 1967. The systematics of Wandering Albatross(es) are 
in flux, and the South American Classification Committee of the 
American Ornithologists’ Union is currently working through a pro- 
posal to divide the Wandering Albatross taxa into as many as five 
species. The various taxa in the complex differ in how white they be- 
come as they mature; however, this is complicated by the fact that 
within each taxon, females typically retain more brown plumage 
than males (or retain it longer than do the males). As juveniles, all 
taxa have dark brown body plumage, brown upperwings, and a 
white face. As they age, the body becomes gradually paler, erasing 
the white-masked appearance of juveniles, at least in some taxa. 
Many females of the taxon antipodcnsis (Antipodes Albatross, the 
name suggested by albatross authority W. L. N. Tickell) and most in- 
dividuals of both sexes of amsterdamensis (Amsterdam Albatross, al- 
ready considered a separate species by many authorities) retain the 
brown body and white face into adulthood. Unlike the solidly brown 
juveniles, they show a distinct brown breast band and sides of breast, 
which contrast with a white belly, axillaries, and underwing. 
Just such a pattern is shown by the Oregon albatross. In adult fe- 
male Antipodes Albatross, the dark cap is often the darkest part of 
the upperparts, while on immature cxulans Wandering Albatross 
(often called Snowy Albatross) and other taxa, the cap is either ab- 
sent, weak, or becomes patchy and eventually is replaced by white 
feathering entirely. The critically endangered Amsterdam Albatross, 
rather similar jq Oregon albatross, shows bold dark cutting 
edges to the bill, which the Oregon bird lacks. The taxon gibsoni 
(Auckland or Gibson’s Albatross) shows a plumage progression and 
whitening of cap more like Snowy Albatross and is not expected to 
show the pattern of the West Coast bird, though some immature fe- 
males might. Immature females of the taxon dabbenena (Tristan Al- 
batross), which now nests only on Gough Island and occasionally 
Inaccessible Island (and perhaps better called Gough Albatross, as 
Tickell recommends), shows a plumage similar to female An- 
tipodes, but dabbenena is restricted to the Atlantic Ocean, and im- 
mature females typically have a dusky or greenish-tinged bill tip. 
The Oregon bird is not a juvenile, as can be seen by the various ages 
of flight feathers and body feathers. Its pattern, and in particular the 
lack of black cutting edge on the bill, solid dark cap, dark breast 
band contrasting with white belly, are classic of female Antipodes 
Albatross. 
Satellite tracking and visual observations have now clarified that 
Antipodes is the expected taxon of the Wandering complex in the 
Humboldt Current of the Pacific Ocean: it is regular just off the Pa- 
cific coast of South America, at much lower latitudes than Snowy Al- 
batross. Thus it may be the most likely taxon of Wandering Albatross 
to end up on the North American West Coast. The previous North 
American record of Wandering Albatross is of a much whiter indi- 
vidual that still retains a contrasting dark cap. This pattern suggests 
that it too could have been an Antipodes Albatross, or possibly an 
Auckland Albatross. 
This Photo Salon was prepared with the indispensable assistance of 
Alvaro Jaramillo and Steve N. G. Howell. 
Figure 1 . This marvelous photograph shows very nicely the distribution of white and brown 
plumage in the bird's ventral aspect: dark brown flight feathers nearly covered by very white un- 
derwing coverts, and a white face and belly set off by brown undertail coverts, breast band, and 
sides of breast (extending almost to the flanks). The Wandering Albatross familiar to many bird- 
ers from older literature is the taxon exulans (Snowy Albatross), which takes on a patchy appear- 
ance as it ages from the brown juvenal plumage. In contrast, the typical female Antipodes 
Albatross (antipodensis) retains more uniformly dark upperparts and breast band (contrasting 
neatly with the white belly) as it ages. The uniformity of the Oregon bird's plumage, coupled 
with the fact that it is not a juvenile (see Figure 2), points away from Snowy and Auck- 
land/Gibson's Albatrosses. Photograph by Greg Gillson. 
Figure 2. One clue to the ageing of the Oregon albatross is the presence of different-aged feath- 
ers in both wing and body: this indicates that the bird is no longer a juvenile, as does the white 
belly. Although it is not possible, on current knowledge, to say how much older it may be, some 
experts have suggested that the bird is about five years old. Because juveniles of all taxa of the 
Wandering Albatross group have brown back and upperwings, as well as white faces, it would 
not be possible to identify (to taxon) a juvenile of this group, unless the bird had been banded as 
a nestling, as many Wanderings have been. Great albatrosses (genus Diomedea) can take as 
many as twenty years to reach classic "adult" plumage. Plumages of older-than-juvenile Wander- 
ing Albatross taxa begin to show patches of white on the belly and upperparts, and later on the 
upperwings; the Oregon bird, however, has newer feathers that are distinctly dark brown, concol- 
orous with older feathers,, which suggests either female Antipodes, female Gough, or Amsterdam 
Albatross. In female Antipodes, the crown is often very dark brown (rather than pale brown or 
patchy brown and white), as seen in this and other images. Photograph by Greg Gillson. 
182 
NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS 
