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Buller's Albatross | Thalassarche bulleri
Bullers albatros | Albatros de Buller | Albatroz-de-buller
Buller's Albatross is a small albatross that breeds only in New Zealand, but outside the breeding season crosses the Pacific to the waters off the west coast of South America. It has a two-toned bill: black with a yellow ridge and lower edge. There are two forms, breeding on the Snares and Solander Islands and on the Chatham Islands.
Voice
Almost silent at sea; croaking calls when competing for food. At the colony groaning and clattering sounds.
Recording: David Boyle — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
76–81 cm, a small, slim albatross. The head and neck are silvery grey, with a white forehead and crown and a dark patch in front of the eye. The back, upperwing and tail are dark greyish brown, the rump and underparts white. The bill is black on the sides, with a yellow upper ridge and a yellow lower edge to the lower mandible. The underwing is white, with a fairly broad black leading edge and a narrower trailing edge. Juveniles have a darker grey head and a dark, horn-coloured bill.
Confusion species
Salvin's Albatross Thalassarche salvini and Chatham Albatross Thalassarche eremita are larger, with a narrower black leading edge to the underwing and a black thumb mark; Salvin's has a pale grey-green bill, Chatham a yellow bill and a darker head. Black-browed Albatross Thalassarche melanophris has a white head, an orange-yellow bill and broader dark underwing margins.
Habitat
Open ocean over the continental shelf and shelf edge, also over slightly warmer water than other albatrosses. It eats fish, squid, crustaceans and offal, and follows fishing vessels. Breeds in colonies on rocky islands, under forest or on bare slopes; the nest is a cone of mud and plant debris.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of the Andes and the west coast.
Range and movements
In the guide area a non-breeding visitor at sea off Peru, less regularly north to off Ecuador; usually far offshore. Absent from Bolivia and not regular around Galápagos. Outside the guide area it breeds only on islands of New Zealand; outside the breeding season also at sea off the coast of Chile.
- Resident
- Summer visitor (c. Apr–Sep)
- Winter visitor (c. Oct–Mar)
- Passage (Mar–Apr, Oct–Nov)
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
On pelagic trips from Peruvian ports such as Callao and Pucusana, usually among the other albatrosses behind a boat with fish offal.
Conservation status
Near Threatened. The species breeds on a small number of islands and dies as bycatch in longline and trawl fisheries, including in the waters off South America.
Scientific name
Thalassarche bulleri | (Rothschild, 1893)
Rothschild described the species in 1893 as Diomedea bulleri; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Thalassarche was introduced in 1853 by Reichenbach. The genus name comes from Greek thalassa, 'sea', and arkhē, 'rule', so 'ruler of the sea'. The species name honours Walter Buller (1838–1906), a New Zealand lawyer and ornithologist, author of A History of the Birds of New Zealand. The specimen the first description was based on came from New Zealand.