Species profile
Northern Royal Albatross
Diomedea sanfordi
Quick answer
breeds in New Zealand, only in the Chatham Islands and the Otago Peninsula (Taiaroa Head) (Olmos et al., 2006) from September to April. After breeding, it migrates east to the coast of Chile and Peru, where it molts. It then goes around Cape Horn to reach the continental shelf of Argentina (including the Malvinas / Falklands) and southern Brazil before crossing the Atlantic Ocean via the South African coast and migrating through the Austral Ocean to its breeding site (Neves et al., 2006). For RS there are photographic records in the months of May, August (Bencke et al., 2010) and October (WikiAves, 2016) and also as bycatch in the longline fishing fleet of Brazil in August (Carlos et al., 2004 a). For SC there is only one record in July 2001 away from the continental shelf (Olmos, 2002 b).
- Scientific name
- Diomedea sanfordi
- Family
- Diomedeidae
- Order
- Procellariiformes
- Genus
- Diomedea
- Conservation status
- Endangered
Recording Northern Royal Albatross in your journal
When you see this bird, log the sighting with the date, the place and any photos. If it's your first, Feather Journal marks it as a lifer and adds it to your life list automatically — no spreadsheet, no re-typing.
Related species in Diomedeidae
- Aldiomedes angustirostris (Aldiomedes angustirostris)
- Amsterdam Albatross (Diomedea amsterdamensis)
- Antipodean Albatross (Diomedea antipodensis)
- Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross (Thalassarche chlororhynchos)
- Black-browed albatros (Thalassarche melanophris)
- Brown Gooney (Phoebastria nigripes)
- Buller's Albatross (Thalassarche bulleri)
- Campbell albatross (Thalassarche impavida)