GIBSON'S ALBATROSS

Photographed off Kaikoura, South Island, New Zealand, April, 2019

(* 1237)                   GIBSON'S ALBATROSS                Diomedea gibsoni

NEW ZEALAND               111

Also known as Auckland Island Albatross or Gibson's Wandering Albatross. Considered by some to be a subspecies of Wandering Albatross and by some to be a subspecies of Antipodean Albatross and by others to be a full species. Breed only on the subantarctic Auckland Islands archaepeligo of New Zealand. Breeding females feed mainly in Tasman sea while male forage further in the sub Australian or mid Pacific sectors of Southern Ocean. Feed mainly on fish, cephalopods and crustaceans; feed on surface or shallow dives just below.