10,000 Birds

JUNE 13, 2011

Have you ever stayed up late at night pondering how you might introduce your child to the awesomeness that is an albatross without having access to, you know, a real live albatross? That is why I am so psyched that illustrator Bill Bolton has come out with an ebook for kids about an albatross that is afraid to fly.

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Albatross 162

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2013

The important thing is that I get to see albatrosses and he doesn’t. I mean, granted, he does live near the North Atlantic, the one ocean pretty much bereft of albatrosses (it wasn’t always that way, by the way). The Black-footed Albatross. Like all albatrosses Black-footed Albatrosses pair for life, unseen by Corey.

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Albatross Hawaii North America California 157

10,000 Birds

MARCH 1, 2012

Photographic guides are opinion splitters, some birders love images others are completely turned off by them, yearning for the art and craft of the traditional field guide. There are good photographic guides and a great many bad ones.

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North America Albatross America Species 207

10,000 Birds

JUNE 8, 2016

So here’s some Antipodean Albatrosses! The taxonomy of the bigger albatrosses, known as great albatrosses, is tricky. What were three species, Royal Albatross, Wandering Albatross and Amsterdam Albatross , are now seven. The mighty Antipodean Albatross. This is a true Wandering Albatross.

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Albatross New Zealand Breeding Species 100

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 13, 2013

Kaikoura, in New Zealand’s South Island, is arguably the best place in the world to see albatrosses and petrels. And the endemic Hutton’s Shearwater, which only breeds in Kaikoura, will keep you entertained for those few minutes till the albatrosses hit. More Albatrosses, this time a White-capped Albatross !

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Albatross New Zealand Dolphins Whales 214

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2013

Anyone that has read my posts before knows I love Kaikoura and the amazing people at Albatross Encounter. It was pretty obvious which of the many boats out there it was, the huge flocks of petrels and albatrosses around the boat made finding it easy. Salvin’s Albatrosses were nice to add to my year list. Not a bad day!

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Albatross New Zealand Fish Breeding 204

10,000 Birds

APRIL 10, 2013

I have raved on and on about how Kaikoura is the best place in the world to see albatrosses , but the once sleepy seaside town is not actually famous for these magnificent birds. You almost certainly won’t see a Sperm Whale out with the albatross crew, but the trip is still utterly essential as well.

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Whales Whaling Albatross New Zealand 257

10,000 Birds

APRIL 17, 2013

I will never tire of banging Kaikoura’s drum as the best place in the world to see albatrosses, and since albatrosses are the among the best birds in the world it amazes me that none of you have made it out here yet (actually, some of you have, per some of the comments, but Corey hasn’t). At first anyway.

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Albatross New Zealand Fur Seals 203

10,000 Birds

MARCH 25, 2014

They include Black-footed Albatrosses , Laysan Ducks , and roughly 65 percent of the world’s Laysan Albatrosses. Between 2012 and 2013, populations of Laysan and Black-footed Albatrosses at Midway reached near-record levels. Photos of the Black-footed, above, and the Laysan, below, both from Duncan.). mainland.

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Albatross Goats Rats Japan 246

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 16, 2016

Thanks to it’s marine canyon it’s the place to see Sperm Whales, swim with Dusky Dolphins and New Zealand Fur-seals, and watch albatrosses, shearwaters and petrels. There is no better place on Earth to see albatrosses, and that is a precious thing. White-capped Albatrosses are easy to see.

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Albatross New Zealand Fur Seals 218

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2012

Soon afterwards a confident shout heralds the sighting of the first albatross of the day… This is usually a Shy Albatross as sweeps in slow and graceful flight over the wake before veering away on motionless wings giving all the opportunity to see the characteristic axillary ‘thumb-print’ on the mainly white underwing.

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Albatross Penguins Dolphins Whales 241

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 23, 2013

The giant petrels are aptly named, massive lumbering fulmarine petrels as large as small albatrosses that terrorise the Southern Ocean. The giant petrels share more than just their size with the albatrosses. Although giant petrels are big, they aren’t as big as an Antipodean Albatross !

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Albatross Penguins Adoptable Species 200

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 9, 2014

This male Short-tailed Albatross has fledged 2 chicks from Eastern Island, Midway Atoll, the only place in the U.S. Short-tailed Albatross was thought to be, at one time, the most abundant species of albatross in the North Pacific. this species breeds.

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Albatross Endangered Species Bald Eagle Alaska 253

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2012

Keep your eyes to the skies… you might see an Albatross! Find out where you might spy a Shy Albatross and other phenomenal pelagics with Patrick Cardwell ) a. Whatever your plans this weekend, make time to enjoy SkyWatch Friday. Also be sure to come back Monday to share your best bird of the weekend !

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2012 Albatross New York Eggs 204

10,000 Birds

MAY 9, 2017

Black-footed Albatross : The most common albatross off the west coast, virtually all of the world’s Black-footed Albatross also breed in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, on the same islands as the Laysan Albatross on Hawaiian Islands NWR and Midway Atoll NWR.

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Albatross Hawaii Puerto Rico Chile 187

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 7, 2012

Good news !

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Albatross Protection 133

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 10, 2012

Buller’s Albatross ( Thalassarche bulleri ) and Cape Petrel ( Daption capense ) at Kaikoura. The focus of today is one of the guys above, but since I have already done a story on Buller’s Albatrosses before it is going to be about the other guy. This post is not about albatrosses!

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New Zealand Albatross South Africa Brazil 182

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

In addition to the photo below, of a Black-browed Albatross and its young, a full-page photo shows adult and juvenile birds in flight. And, much as I love Albatrosses and am curious about Prions, it is the pages on Penguins that I keep turning to. South Georgia is home to the King Penguin, the second largest penguin in the world.

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Georgia Penguins Wildlife Whales 210

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 3, 2020

Penguins are shown individually in groups, in dense colonies, within habitat (ice, rainforest, beach), swimming in the ocean, and doing things–nose to nose with an albatross, feeding a child, placing an egg on its foot, sliding down ice. (You can see additional photos at Plantema’s online photo gallery.)

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Penguins Georgia Albatross New Zealand 279

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 17, 2022

In Costa Rica, this past year has seen expected additions like Lesser Black-backed Gull and Crimson-backed Tanager along with somewhat less expected birds like Yellow-nosed Albatross in the Caribbean and an equally mega probable Salvin’s Albatross in the Pacific.

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Costa Rica Latvia Albatross Netherlands 246

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 26, 2014

The mammoth like thing behind is an albatross chick. I ts easy to overheat, so the shade of a convenient Black-footed Albatross chick is sought-after. After breeding they can spend months at sea without landing before returning to land. A Sooty Tern chick in the gawky phase. A Great Frigatebird snatching a chick.

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Hawaii Albatross Breeding Species 224

10,000 Birds

JUNE 13, 2014

Maybe you’ll see albatrosses ! Keeps your eyes to the skies. Many civilized nations choose the third weekend in June to honor fatherhood, paternal bonds, and the influence of fathers in society. In response, many fathers elect to celebrate their paternity by ditching their progeny. Is this civilized behavior?

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Albatross 2014 Birds 227

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 7, 2012

Black-footed Albatrosses One of Hawaii’s three species of albatross, this one isn’t likely to mistaken for much else. An adult Black-footed Albatross loafing in the evening and failing to fly to California. Laysan Albarosses Last but by no means least are the Laysan Albatrosses. To be an albatross is to move!

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Albatross Hawaii Japan New Zealand 157

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 21, 2011

They are described as usually nocturnal in Brooke’s Albatrosses and Petrels of the World , but on Tern Island they can easily be seen lounging the day away on the surface. Shearwaters are not as accomplished on land as albatrosses and giant petrels, but they can walk. Here a bunch of them are investigating one such burrow.

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Albatross Madagascar Breeders Mexico 227

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2016

Maybe they were lured by the promise of even more seabirds and albatrosses. Seabirds and albatrosses? Heck, the way west coast pelagic trips are developing doesn’t suggest the ABA is in imminent procellarid peril, when literally anybody can nowadays see an albatross.

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Hawaii Albatross Europe North America 217

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2011

In particular the South Island destination of Kaikoura is world-renowned for the flocks of albatrosses and giant petrels floating right off the pelagic boat, and the ease of the trip makes it a must-visit for any visiting birder. The Hauraki Gulf trip deserves to be on the itinerary of any birder visiting New Zealand.

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New Zealand Albatross 2011 Cooking 212

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2013

Yes, the same Kaikoura I keep banging on about that is a great place to see albatrosses. But mostly it was that I had swam with dolphins a bunch of times already, usually in crystal clear tropical waters, and money was a bit tight after seeing sperm whales and albatrosses, so I decided to enjoy the Hector’s Dolphins from the boat.

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Dolphins Sharks New Zealand Albatross 204

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 3, 2016

The magnificent Northern Royal Albatross. Squabbling Antipodean Albatrosses and Cape Petrels. Buller’s Albatrosses. And as well as the work on land, New Zealand is home to some of the greatest pelagic birding in the world, as you might expect from the world’s petrel biodiversity hot-spot. Australasian Gannets.

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New Zealand Albatross Parrots Penguins 157

10,000 Birds

APRIL 4, 2013

where Duncan saw albatrosses and other tasty pelagics !). Crossing New Zealand’s Cook Strait. Now that April Foolery is over (but not forgotten ) we can turn our attention to more serious matters.

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New Zealand Albatross 2013 Cooking 203

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 11, 2011

And then there are the crazy-awesome Dippers and one should not forget the great diving birds like Gannets and Albatrosses. You should know by now that there are a good number of birds that spend an appreciable amount of time underwater. There are, for example, the Penguins and Diving Ducks.

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Sharks Thailand Dolphins Whales 244

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2022

The first is an albatross spotted and videod off the Pacific Coast. So far, it appears to have been a Salvin’s Albatross , a bird more at home in the Humboldt Current. Whether it was that species or another, it’s definitely new for the Costa Rica list!

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Costa Rica Eagles West Virginia Albatross 260

10,000 Birds

APRIL 27, 2011

They are capable of covering great distances, perhaps like an albatross. Unlike albatrosses, however, frigatebirds are also very manoeuvrable on the wing. Frigatebirds are very long winged, and combined with a very low body weight they have the highest ratio of wing area to weight of any bird.

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Albatross Philippines Hawaii Hunting 215

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2015

Corey asked that I didn’t post any albatrosses today, which suits me since I didn’t do a pelagic trip and thus didn’t see any. And some jackass sounding calling… Okay, now it’s time to go find some albatross. So here are some photos of penguins instead. And a moulting site. A bit of preening.

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Penguins Seychelles Albatross Africa 178

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2012

Sunrise at Kaikoura in New Zealand (If you visit at the right time, you might see what Duncan saw here: albatrosses !). Also be sure to come back Monday to share your best bird of the weekend !

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Singapore New Zealand 2012 Japan 189

10,000 Birds

MARCH 29, 2012

The Antipodes, one of New Zealand’s subantarctic island possessions, are home to two endemic parrots, a subspecies of the Subantarctic Snipe, and a whole range of breeding seabirds, including albatrosses and penguins. Spread the word and support the project if you can at Million Dollar Mouse !

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Mice New Zealand Penguins Albatross 171

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 5, 2024

The sea is never far away wherever you are in the Falklands: my diary records “a constant passage of Black-browed Albatrosses, hundreds of birds as far as the horizon, their white undersides catching the sun [ the weather must have cheered up! ] as they sheered into the wind.

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Albatross Barn Owls Birds Sparrows 246

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 3, 2012

While perhaps this reaches the apex in the order in the albatrosses and storm-petrels, shearwaters are certainly distinctive in their capacity to travel large distances with the the minimum amount of effort. The diving thing is actually a rather unappreciated aspect of of shearwater biology. But many species are also capable divers.

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Penguins Albatross South Africa New Zealand 187