Another banded Gibson’s Antipodean Albatross is identified at sea

Gibson's Antipodean Albatross Red-94H, photograph from Paul Waldbridge

A colour-banded great albatross Diomedea sp. was photographed at sea over the Queensland Guyot (an extinct volcanic seamount approximately 200 km off the Australian coastal city of Brisbane in the Coral Sea) on 4 May 2024.  The bird carried the colour band Red-94H on its right leg and metal band R-58554 on the left.

Kath Walker, New Zealand Department of Conservation confirms the bird is a Gibson’s Antipodean Albatross D. antipodensis gibsoni.  She writes: “Great to see the band recovery and photograph.  Red-94H is an adult female Gibson’s who we banded in our study area on Adams Island, Auckland Islands on 7 January 2017 when she started nesting there.  She nested successfully in 2023 so was on sabbatical when seen in 2024”.

"This bird is part of a long-term study by Graeme Elliott and Kath Walker on Gibson’s Albatross which are endemic to the Auckland Island archipelago. Since 1991 this study has monitored the survival, productivity, recruitment and population trends of this species on an almost annual basis."

Information from the Pelagics. Seabirds birding worldwide Facebook Page.

Read about an earlier record of a colour-banded Gibson’s Antipodean Albatross from Adams Island that was photographed at sea here.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 11 June 2024