Antipodean Albatross

About the Antipodean Albatross

The Antipodean albatross (Diomedea antipodensis) (Māori: Toroa) is a large seabird in the albatross family. Its recognition as more than a subspecies of the wandering albatross is relatively recent, and still not accepted by all authorities. Antipodean albatrosses are smaller than other former wandering albatrosses, now called snowy albatrosses, and breed in predominantly brown plumage, but are otherwise difficult to distinguish from young snowy albatrosses (snowy albatrosses grow lighter in color with age, while the Antipodean stays darker).

The name Diomedea antipodensis includes the genus name Diomedea after the Greek warrior king Diomedes, whose companions turned to birds, and the species name antipodensis, the Latin form of the Antipodes Islands, where they are found.

The Antipodean albatross belongs to the order Procellariiformes. Like all members of this order, they have naricorns, tubular nasal passages on their bill. They also have a unique palate with seven to nine bony plates. One of the great albatrosses of the genus Diomedea, it was only distinguished as a subspecies of the wandering albatross (now the snowy albatross) in 1992 and recognised... Wikipedia →