Bird species profile
Southern Royal Albatross
Diomedea epomophora
- Order
- Procellariiformes
- Family
- Diomedeidae
About the species
The Southern Royal Albatross is one of the world's largest flying birds. It breeds mainly on Campbell Island, with much smaller numbers in New Zealand's Auckland Islands. At sea, it ranges widely through the temperate and subantarctic Southern Ocean, including shelf waters around southern South America.
In the Puerto Madryn and Península Valdés region, it is an infrequent, highly pelagic visitor rather than a dependable land-based birding target. A historical record documented in Aves de Península Valdés concerns a bird banded on Campbell Island and recovered on Península Valdés in 1969. Other regional reports published under the former broad name "Royal Albatross" should not be assigned to this species unless the original evidence supports identification under current taxonomy.
Habitat
Open waters of the Southern Ocean, especially continental-shelf and shelf-break waters; breeding is restricted to subantarctic islands of New Zealand.
Foraging
Feeds mainly on cephalopods, fish, and tunicates, taking food at or near the sea surface and often scavenging.
