Dennis Zaki of the Alaska Report was out on a halibut fishing boat this last week out of Kodiak taking lots of pictures and videos, including this picture of a young short-tailed Albatross. My Guide to the Birds of Alaska by Robert H. Armstrong says:
Immature: Chocolate brown body and wings, conspicuous pink bill and feet. Intermediate plumages between brown juveniles and full adults can be confusing; however these subadults retain a blackish hoodlike area on the top of their head and develop white on their upperwings rather early.They were 125 miles out of Kodiak when he got this shot. Not an easy bird to see. Thanks Dennis.
Habitat. Mostly offshore marine waters. On Endangered Species List.
It is indeed a Short-tailed Albatross. The further out the Alaska Peninsula or out the Aleutians one goes, the more one sees. Watching Albatross fly over wave crests might be what I miss the most from my time in the offshore North Pacific.
ReplyDeleteIn October 1982, on a tug boat trip to the far end of the Aleutians, halfway to the Kommondorski Islands from Attu, we saw an Albatross fighting with a Kamchatka Eagle. Maybe the rarest bird scene I've ever witnessed. And, both the Kamchatka Eagle and Short-tailed Albatross are named after George Steller, whose name is also attached to the Alaskan Blue Jay.