A First Shy , Thalassarche cauta, in California and a Critical Re-examination of Northern Hemisphere Records of the Former Diornedea cauta Complex

Luke W. Cole 561 Hill Street SanFrancisco, CA 94114 luke@crpesf,org ABSTRACT The ShyAlbatross, Thalassarche cauta, is an Australianspecies, with classifycauta). Bonaparte (1856) followedReichenbach in using some55,000 to 60,000pairs breeding on threerocky islands off the Thalassarche,and put cautawithin it. Coues(1866:174), who opined Tasmaniancoast. It rangeswidely in southernwaters, and is found that amongthe albatrossesone cotfid make an "accuratediagnosis of off southernAfrica and, less commonly, off AtlanticSouth America. speciesin thecharacters afforded us by the bill alone,"considered differ- On 24August 1999, a ShearwaterJourneys pelagic trip outof Bodega encesamong the "hardly sufficient" to warranttheir own Bayencountered a approximately 15 km west-south- genera,and placedReichenbach's Thalassarche genus, including cauta, westof PointArena, Mendocino County, California. I detailthat backinto Diomedea.Ridgway proposed the genusThalassogeron for encounterherein and discussthe taxonomic evolution, distribution, thosealbatrosses (which included the cauta,though Ridgway did not and statusof the Thalassarchecauta complex. I offer previously mentionit) havingthe "ctfiminicornwidely separated from the laten- unpublishedcriteria for separatingShy Albatross, T. cauta,from the cornby the interpositionof a stripof nakedskin behind the nostril" similarWhite-capped Albatross, T. steadi,in lightof the recentsug- (Baird et al. 1884).The taxonwe now call Thalassarchesalvim was first gestedsplit of the .I alsocritically review other Northern describedasThalassogeron salvini by Rothschild (1893:Mii) on the basis Hemisphererecords (including three other North American records) of its smallerbill andtarsus measurements and grayer head and neck of the ShyAlbatross in light of the suggestedsplit. I concludethat thanthe type Rothschild called T. cauta, of Gould. both T. cautaand T. steadihave occurred in the North Hemisphere Australianornithologist Gregory M. Mathewsadopted Pddgway's and in North America. The Point Arena is the first confirmed Thalassogerongenus for the ShyAlbatross, naming it T. cautuscautus record of T. cauta for North America. (Mathews1912). Mathews considered two previously described species, THE SHIFTING OF T. salviniand T. layardi,as subspecies of the T. cauta:T. cautussaMre, THE SHY ALBATROSS COMPLEX breedingon BountyIsland, New Zealand, and T. c.layardi, described by Thetaxonomy of albatrossesin general, and the Shy Albatross in partic- Salvinfrom off the Cape of GoodHope, South Africa. Shordy thereafter, ular,is dynamic and evolving. To understand where the taxonomy of the Mathews(1916) moved cauta into its own genus, Diomedella, based on ShyAlbatross complex stands today requires abrief history of theevolv- the"large amount of bareskin between the frontalfeathering and the ingunderstanding of its phylogenetic status. The Shy Albatross was first culminicornas well asbetween the culminicorn"(Mathews and Iredale "discovered"in 1798, when Matthew Flinders found the breeding colony 1921:47).Loomis (1918) placed the ShyAlbatross in Thalassarche(to at AlbatrossIsland in the BassStrait north of (Mathews 1912, whichit hasreturned 80 years later), and determined that Thalassogeron Serventyet al. 1971).It wasfirst described to scienceby the eminent layardiwas actually a variationof Thalassarchecauta. Englishornithologist John Gotfid in 1841,who namedit the Shy Mathews(1927) maintained cauta in itsown genus as D•omedella Albatross,Diomedea cauta. cauta.He describedtwo subspecies,D.c. cautaand D.c. salwm,sub- Reichenbach(1850), an early splitter, divided Diomedea into three suminghis earliersubspecies D.c. rohuiand D.c. wallacainto D c genera,induding the new genus,Thalassarche (Reichenbach did not cauta Mathews(1934) later explainedthat cautadeserved its own

NORTHANERICAN 54 124-135, 2000 Figure1. ShyAlbatross, off Point Arena, California, 24 August 1999. Photoby luke W. Cole.

genuson the strength of"the naked skin between the square base of the reachedconsensus on a standardtaxonomy for theorder (Alexander et culmenand the featherswide [similarto othermollymawks], but the al. 1965).Noting that Mathews had devised"a series of inconsistentnew fleshytransverse bar at thebased of theramicorn is continuedalong classificationsand succeededin reducinginternational usage for the theramus, causing a distinct angle; this character isshared by noother group to chaosT'the group reworkedthe albatrosstaxonomy and birdin thefamily." He alsoopined that "it shouldbe quite easy to name includedjust two genera in thefamily Diomedeidae, Phoebetria for the [=identify]any perfect adult bird, and almost as easy from seeing only sootyalbatrosses and Diomedeafor all others(Alexander et al. 1965). the bill."Alexander (1928) followedLoomis (1918), and describedtwo This taxonomicscheme, a return to that suggestedby Coues(1866) subspecies,Thalassarche cauta cauta and T. c salvini.He alsoechoed nearly100 years before, remained the standard for the next30 years. Loomisin notingthat T. layardi= T. cauta,a condusionalso reached Most recentauthorities have recognized three subspeciesin the by Murphy(1930), who felt that T. layardiwas probably T. c.salvini. cautacomplex: D. c cauta,D.c. eremiraand D. c salvini(Harrison 1985, Murphy(1930) described three races of T. cauta,including the 1987b,Howard and Moore 1991,del Hoyo et al. 1992,Simpson and Day 1994,Enticott and Tipling 1997),although the recognitionof a newlydiscovered T. c eremirawhich Murphy had foundnesting on fourth subspecies,D.c. steadi,was questioned by some(Marchant and PyramidRock off the ChathamIslands. T. c. eremiradiffered from T. Higgins1990, del Hoyo et al. 1992) and acknowledgedby others cautain size(wing mean = 546mm, range= 534-562mm, n = 7 males, (Brotherset al. 1997). 9 females),and in havingan "entirely bright yellow" bill. Oliver(1930) Nunn et al. (1996)found that the traditional genus Diomedea was keptthe ShyAlbatross in Thalassarche,describing two subspecies,T. polyphyletic(had more than one origin), and that the specieswithin cautacauta and T. c. salvini,and gavethe newlydescribed "Chatham Diomedeaactually fell withinthree genera, Thalassarche (resurrected Island "full speciesstatus as T. eremira.Falla (1933) from Reichenbach1850) for the southernmollymawks, Phoebastria describedsteadi to sciencefrom New Zealand waters, and Mathews (for north Pacificalbatrosses) and Diomedea(the GreatAlbatrosses). (1946)placed it asDiomedella cauta steadi. Diomedeacauta became Thalassarchecauta. The A.O.U. (1997, 1998) Murphy(1936) changed course and concluded that all albatrosses adoptedthe new generic-level nomenclature with respect to T cauta(as exceptsooty albatrossesbelonged in the genus Diomedea,and wellas Nunn et al.'s1996 suggested taxonomy for theother seven alba- describedthree "well-marked" subspecies of D. cauta:D.c. cauta,D.c. trossspecies recorded in theA.O.U. area). salvini,and D.c. eremita.Mathews and Hallstrom(1943) went to the Robertsonand Nunn (1998) further found that there were clear oppositeextreme, dividing Diomedeidae into nine separategenera, phylogeneticand morphological differences to separatethe 14 species continuingwith Diomedellafor cauta.Mathews (1948) then decided of albatrossinto 24 full species.This led to theirsuggesting the splitting that bill colordid not have"generic value" and declaring"we must of theShy Albatross complex into four new species: , lump;'abruptly placed all albatross(including the sootyalbatrosses) Thalassarcheeremita, from the former D.c. eremita;Salvin's Albatross, into a singlegenus, Diomedea. Oliver (1955) wentagainst this grain T.salvini, from the formerD.c. salvini;White-capped Albatross, T. stea- andretained Thalassarche for the . di, from the formerD.c. caum;and ShyAlbatross (which Robertson In 1965,a groupof 15prominent ornithologists from four conti- andNunn called "Tasmanian Mollymawk"), T. cauta,also from the for- nents,expressing frustration with the"confusion" in thetaxonomy of mer D. c cauta.They noted that the four newsuggested species from ,which they largelyblamed on GregoryMathews, the cautacomplex are the "most difficult to study"due to theisolation

VOLUME54 (ZOO0), NUMBERZ IZ5 trossspecies (Richards 1909)--and competes "greedily" for foodoff fishingboats (del Hoyo et al. 1992;pers. obs.). Indeed, the four North Americanrecords of the cauta/steadicomplex are from close encoun- terswith birds that came to a ship.Le Sou•f (1895:415) appears to have coinedthe name"White-capped Albatross" for the speciescomplex, notingit wouldbe "far more suitable" as the albatross was not shy and thewhite-capped feature was "very striking." OUR ENCOUNTER WITH THE BIRD OFF POINT ARENA, CALIFORNIA Figure2: Diagramof an albatrossbill. 1) Nostrils; Theboat The Tracerleft Bodega Bay at 0545PDT ona tripdesigned by 2) Culminicorn;3) Maxillaryunguis; 4)/atericorn; DebraShearwater to exploreunderbirded areas, and headed north and 5) Manibularunguis; 6) Ramicom; westinto MendocinoCounty coastal waters. Around 1200 PDT, we Drawingfrom Murphy(1936). stoppedand chummedfor seabirdsat 38ø57'N,123ø56'W. The boat wassurrounded by about50 Black-lootedAlbatrosses, Phoebastria nignpes,and numerousPink-looted , Puffinus creatopus, of theirbreeding sites, and are the most recently described taxa among NorthernFulmars, Fulmarus glacialis, and WesternGulls, Larus ocd- all albatrosses.This suggestedsplit has been acknowledged by some dental&A fishing"drag boat" passed by abouthalf a mileaway, and seabirdresearchers (Brothers et al. 1998,Croxall and Gales1998, Gales minuteslater the shoutwent up fromthe sternof our boat--"Laysan 1998) and opposedby others(Bourne 1999, Bourne and Warham Albatross!Laysan Albatross!" A large, dark-mantled, light-bodied alba- 1999).It hasnot beenadopted by the A.O.U.(1998). For consistency tross flew in fromthe direction of thedrag boat. As people were able to and easeof reference,I will follow Schoddeet al. (1978) and Croxalland bettersee the bird, a murmurwent through the observingcrowd that Gales(1998) and use"Shy Albatross" to refer to T.cauta, and"albatross" the bird was not, in fact,a LaysanAlbatross, P. immutabilis.Somebody ratherthan "nmllymawk" when referring to other(sub)species. When calledout "ShyAlbatross!" and pandemonium ensued. usingT. muta in thispaper, I am usingit in thestrict sense to referonly The bird landedin thewake of the boatamong the Black-looted to thetaxon formerly known as Diomedea cauta cauta. Albatrossesand ate bait fish (anchovies) we tossed off thestern, acting Throughoutthis taxonomic flux, the albatross has kept a name• aggressivelytoward other birds competing for the food.It circledthe bothcommon (Shy) and scientific (cauta, Latin for wary or cautious)-- areaseveral times, landed farther away, and finallydeparted back thatGould based on thebird he encountered shying away from the ves- towardthe drag boat. We observedthe bird from approximately 1200 selon whichhe wastraveling (Terres 1991). Gould (1865) remarked to 1235,taking many photographsand capturingvideo and audio that"it wasmost difficult to procure,for it seldomapproached our ship recordings.The bird calledseveral times, a loudgraack that was cap- sufficientlynear for a successfulshot." Although some continue into tured on several video recorders. moderntimes to erroneouslyreport the bird as not followingships The bird was subsequentlyreported on 25 Septemberand 4 (Alexander1928, Shackleton and Stokes1968), the name is a misnomer October1999 at locationsfarther south, once off the SonomaCounty asthe bird is a regularship-follower (Oliver 1930, Serventy et al. 1971, coast,and once at theSonoma-Marin County line by thefishing-boat Harrison1985, 1987b) and is not shy at all (LeSou•f 1895). In fact,the operatorswho staffedour 24 Augustboat. It wasnot seenagain by Shycan be "unusuallybold" (Barton 1979)--bolder than other alba- birdersattempting to find it (D. Nelsonpers. comm.).

Figure3. Shy Albatross off Point Arena, California, 24 Aug 1999. Photographby Robert J. Keiffer.

126 NORTH AHERICAN BIRDS shy albatross

Figure4. ShyAlbatross off PointArena, California, 24 August1999. Photograph by LukeW. Cole.

DESCRIPTION tailwas gray, though a lightergray than the upperwings. The feetwere Thebird was a largealbatross, thick through the neck and bulky in the grayish-pink,with lighterpinkish webbing. body,perhaps 20% largerthan Black-looted Albatrosses seen nearby, On theupper wing, the outer five or soprimaries had white shafts andhaving a muchthicker neck (Fig. 1). The headwas white, with a andsome white in theirouter webbing. The bird wasmolting its flight hint graywash from the cheeksup and acrossthe nape.There was a featherson both wings. The primary molt appeared to besymmetrical, prominenthorizontal rectangular •ndentation (skull and leathering) withthe outerfour primaries being old, the inner primaries fresh, and aroundthe eye,giving the bird a heavy-browedlook. The top of this a gapor missingfeather in between(Fig. 3; B.McKee pets. comm.). It indentationbegan just below the top of thebill andran directlyabove alsohad a prominentnotch in the secondaries,and another,larger theeye and back behind the eye. The bottom of theindentation began notchamong the humerals. at the junctureof the maxillaand mandibleand ran straightback DIAGNOSIS underneaththe eye into theauricular region (Fig. l). The eyewas dark, The PointArena birds cleanwhite underwings and black pre-axillary andthere was a darkbrown or blacksmudge in thelores. The bill was mark narrowits identityto one of the southernmollymawks of the massiveand complex(see Fig. 2). The top of thebill, or culminicorn, genusThalassarche, which used to comprisethe species-groupthen wasyellow basally, trending quickly to gray-white(Fig. 1, Fig.3). The knownas Diomedeacauta. Below, I discussits specificidentification baseof the culminicornwas edged with a ridgeof blackskin, which within thatgenus, after ruling out otherpossibilities among albatross- alsolined the edge between the nostril tube and the latericom, or side- es. The most common albatross off northern California, the Black- plateof the maxilla.The latericornwas gray-white basally, trending foote&is easilydistinguished by its dark overallcoloring. The Point towardlight yellow distally. The prominent tip of thebill, or maxillary Arenabird's large size and pure-whiteunderwings with narrowblack unguis,was yellow. The mandible(ramicom) appeared to havesome bordereliminate the supertidallysimilar Layan Albatross, seen regu- orange-yellowbasally, then quickly turned to lightyellow with what larly in winter off California.The other"expected" albatross of the appearedto be a red or dark tip to the lowernail, or mandibular northernPacific, Short-tailed, Phoebastria albatrus, is easilydistin- unguis.The gapeextended back from the base of thebill in a linein the guishedin all agesby bill sizeand color,and mantleand headcol- leatheringunder the eye and was visible when the bird called.The line oration. of thegape defined the bottom of thehorizontal patch around the eye Evenwithout the diagnostic dark pre-axillary mark, it is alsoeasy mentioned above. to ruleout otheralbatross species. The combinationof thebird's white The breast,belly, undertail, and rump werewhite. The under- head,gray mantle and white body, as well as its bill sizeand color, elim- wingswere white, with a smallbut noticeabledark mark on theleading inate the greatalbatrosses, Diomedea spp. (all taxonomyfollowing edgeof theunderwing where it joinedthe body (Fig. 4). Therewas a Nunn et al. 1996and Robertsonand Nunn 1998).Its eleanwhite head narrowdark edging to thewhite underwing. The upperwingand back and bill coloration eliminate the Black-browed, Thalassarche weredark gray, trending toward light gray in theupper back. There was melanophrys;Gray-headed, T. chrysostoma;Yellow-nosed, T. a distinctcontrast between the dark-gray wings and white body, but the chlororhynchos,and other Thalassarchespp. outside the former light-grayback smoothly faded into the white hind neck (Fig. 1). The Diomedeacauta spedes-group; and theWaved Albatross, Phoebastria

VOLUHE54 (2000), NUHBER2 127 TABLE h MEASUREMENTS OF LIVE THALASSARCHE CAUTA AND THALASSARCHE STEADI Becausethere are no published works delineating how to separate Taken by C.J.R.Robertson (all measurements in mm) T. cautafrom T. steadi,I set forth several hypotheses by Australian and AlbatrossIsland, (T. cauta) NewZealand biologists suggest of howthese birds may be differentiat- w•ng rn 561 (535590) a ed,in the fieldand in hand,although further work is dearlyneeded. f 553 (515-578) culmen m 130.640218 1393) The followingdiscussion isbased on communicationsfrom Chris J. R. f 127 16 (1216-1323) Robertsonof the New ZealandDepartment of Conservationand Tim tarsus m 91 I (83,9-977) Reidof the TasmantanDepartment of Parksand Wildlife,two biolo- f 87• (82.9-92.3) gistswith significantfield and museumexperience with the Shy D•sappomtmentIsland (Ruck/and Islands), New Zealand(T. steadi) •ng m 604(590-620) Albatrosscomplex (e.g., Brothers et al. 1997,Robertson and Nunn f 596 (585 625) 1998).I alsoconferred with GaryNunn, whosestudies (along with culmen m I •4.9 ( 129-141.8) Robertson)of the mitochondrialDNA of albatrosseshave been instru- f 130.6 (I 24.4-135.6) tarsus m 96.0 (91 103.7) mentalin currentsdentific understanding of the taxonomyof the f 94.1 (88 10•) Thalassarchecomplex and who alsohas field experience with the Shy

All samplesfor eachsex• both species are n=30-39. Albatrosscomplex. aOnlyone Albatross Island bird had a winggreater than 580 min. Thereare differencesbetween the taxa-•of varyingdegrees of Source:C.I.I•. Robertson. unpubl. data. N.B.:Earlier subsets of thesedata (49 birds)were published in Marchantand reliability--inbill color,cheek and neck color, and size. There are also Higgins(1990:310). differences,not usefulin thefield, in DNA andin timingof breeding. Knowledgeof the cauta/steadicomplex has evolved since Marchant and Higgins(1990) wrotethat separationof steadiand cautain the irrorata.The sooty albatrosses have all darkbodies. fieldis"not possible." It may now be characterized as"not impossible•' The only birdswith the dark pre-axillarymark shownby the althoughit is highlyproblematic. Tim Reid(pers. comm.), for one, PointArena bird arefour Thalassarchemollymawks generally consid- doesnot believethat any feature,either singly or in combination,is eredsubspecies of Diornedea cauta. The PointArena bird's white head reliable,or that cautaand steadi can be toldapart at sea. eliminatestwo memb. ers of theShy Albatross complex, the Salvin's and Bill Colorationand Shape. In adultbirds, there is a dear difference ChathamAlbatrosses, which both havegray heads in all plumages. in the colorationof the culminicom betweenNew Zealand birds (T. Salvin's and Chatham Albatrosses also have more dark on the under- steadi)and Australian birds (T. cauta;C. J.R. Robertson,G. Nunn pers. surfaceof the outerprimaries than shownby the PointArena bird comm.).Adults of the Australiancauta "all havethe samedensity of (Marchantand Higgins 1990, del Hoyo et al. 1992).Chatham Albatross yellowin thenail, unguis, and base of theculrnen plate joined between hasa smaller,bright yellow bill, unlike the Point Arena bird (Marchant on theculrnen plate by a variableintensity of palelemon yellow" (C. J. andHiggins 1990). Our bird is thusidentifiable as part of thespecies R. Robertsonpets. comm.). Adults of theNew Zealand steadi, by con- pair T.cauta/T. steadi, which are often inseparable at sea(tL Whitepers. trast,have yellow in the nailand unguis only; the base of the culmini- comm. ). cornis horn-colored(C. J.R. Robertson,G. Nunn pets.comm.). This THALASSARCHE CAUTA featuremay remain obvious in dry museumskins (C. J.R. Robertson VERSUS THALASSARCHE STEADI pets.comm.). The bill co[orationfield mark is not describedin thelit- Examiningseveral characteristics of the Point Arena bird, I believeit is erature.Indeed, many works with detaileddescriptions of thebird do identifiableas a ShyAlbatross, sensu stricto. Field guides, both popular not evenmention yellow in the culminicornof cauta.For example, (Slater1970, Simpson and Day 1994)and seabird-specific(Harrison Mathews(1912) called the bill "bluishhom•' althoughthis bird was 1985, 1987b), do not illustratedifferences between T. cautaand the "collected off the Australian coast" and thus could be T. steadi similarT. steadi.This omission is probablya resultof steadikambigu- (Mathews1921). He later describedadult bill color as "the culrnini- oustaxonomic existence; not all believethat T. steadiis a validspecies, corn,and the ramusof the ramicomis lighthorn; the latericorn,the or evena subspecies.Marchant and Higgins (1990), for example,note cutting-edge,and the nexttwo-thirds of the ramicomare grey-blue" that T. steadiis "doubtfullyseparable from cauta."Based on the data (Mathews1934:812). Gould (1841, 1865) is an exception.In his type reportedhere, however, I follow Robertson and Nunn's (1998) suggest- descriptionnoted that the bill was"light vinous-gray or blueishhorn edtaxonomy to focusattention on theat-sea identification and distri- colour,except on the culmen,where it is moreyellow, particularly at butionof eachtaxon, although I am awarethat this taxonomy is con- thebase." Marchant and Higgins (1990) illustrated the head of T.cauta troversial. (asD.c. cauta)and showedthe yellowin thebase of the culminicorn, but did not include an illustration of

TABLE 2: PUBLISHED MEASUREMENTS OF T. CAUTAAND T. STEADI T. steadi.Serventy et al. (1971) note thatAustralian breeding birds have a Source SpeDes/LocationNurnber I Sex Wing Culmen Tarsus yellowculmen, but were not more Heddet al(1998) Dc.coutosensulato/ 13 male 592 mm(552-720) 1378(1309-J46.5) 91.1(84.405.6) specific. Aust.waters 29 female 585 rnm(540 696) 132.8(125.8-]•80) 88.6 (82 6-94.9) The color of the base of the Servenlyetal. (1971) D.c.cautalAustunknown co• • •ed 556mm (523-585) 128(] ]7-!35) 88(8095) Murphy(1930) unk.lAust& N.Z. 9 combired 564.8mm (552-579) 134I (i29-140) 92.4(8906) culminicorn is perhaps the only definitive characteristic observable in Mathews( 1912) "offAust color' I ad male 590 rnrn 137 86 the field (C. I. R. Robertson,G. Nunn, LeSouEf (1907) D.c[au•alAIbatross Island I unknown 22 •nches[- 559 mrn] 6 •ncl•s[= 152mrn] 3.25,nches [- 83 mm] Coues(I 866) unknown I unknown 22.0,nches [- 559mm] 4 75 •nches[= 121mm] 3 25 ,nches[- 82.5mrn] pers. comm.). Tim Reid (pers. Gould(1841) Aust.(typespeDmen) I female 21.5•ncha•s[-546mm] 45•nches[- 114mm] 3,nches[- 76mm] comm.)remains skeptical of thisfield mark,however, believing there to be some overlap in bill coloration Note: Gould and Coues'smeasurements for culmen and tarsi fall below the lowestvalue in Table 1 for cauta (or steadi)culmen andtarsi, while Le Souef'sculmen measurement islarger than any culmen ever reported and his tarsus measurement lower betweenbirds exhibitingplumage thanany in Table1. These data are probably an artifact of differentmeasuring methodologies among different generations characteristics of T. steadl and T. cauta of ornithologists,which can resuh in differentmeasurements even for thesame bird (see,e.g., Hedd et al. 1998). (seebelow). Additionally,it is undear from the literature if Coues'smeasurements were of Gould'stype specimen (although they differ from Gould'smeasurements), or of a secondbird. A secondbill differencemay be helpfulin the field.According to

128 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS shyalbatross

Reid (pers.comm.) the mandibularunguis of adult T. TABLE3. I"'IEASUREI"'IENTS oF FIVE DIOMEDF_.A CAUTA CAUTA steadiremains dark grayto black(and thuscontrasts COLLECTED OFF AFRICA with the sidesof the bill to form a dark tip to the (all measurements in millimeters) mandible),while most (but not all) adult T. cautahave Collected ' Winœ ' Culmen ' Tarsus Present location the samegray as the sidesof thebill with a distalyellow SouthAfrica {1896} 562 136 89 British Museum washadjacent to the yellowof the tip; thisfield mark is ]•amatave,Madagascar(11Nov 1954} 591 134 96 Paris not definitive, however,because some adult T. cautawith Farafangana•Madagascar{4Sep 1963} 580 130 96 Paris dark graybill tips (includingthe mandibularunguis) Reunion{17 bep 1948} 590 129 96 Paris have been observedfeeding young on the breeding groundsat Albatross Island (Johnstone etal. 1975,Bartie Reunion(20 Aug 1890) 580 127 95 I Brussels 1975,T. Reidpers. obs.). Confusing matters, subadults of Source: Bourne 1977. bothtaxa have a darkgray mandibular unguis (and less- N.B.:Sa[vih s originalreported measurements for theSouth African bird were wing 22 inches[=SS9 mm], culmenS.4 inches [=137 mm], and tarsus3.S inches [=89 mm]. Mathews1912. eningamounts of darkgray on the maxillary unguis). In terms of bill shapeand structure,Robertson (pers. comm.)also reports a "lessdefinitive feature is that the base of the cul- other at 640-720 mm (n = 27; seealso Hedd et aL 1998:Tablel). These men in steaditends to be straightersided and squarertopped in both rangesof wingmeasurements indicate birds significantly larger than skins and live birds in the hand." thosereported in Table1, where cauta ranges from 515-590 mm and Cheekand neckcolor. According to Marchantand Higgins(1990), T. steadifrom 585-620mm. The hypothesisis that the groupingwith cautahas a graywash to thecheeks and ear coverts so that a fairlydis- smallermeasurements represents cauta and the groupingwith larger tinct whitecap is formed.Paradoxically, on T steadi(the "White- measurementsrepresents steadi, although Reid (pers. comm.) reports capped"Albatross) the gray wash is faintor absent,so that the whole thatone of thebirds from the grouping with larger measurements was headlooks whiter, "with a lessdistinctly capped impression" (T Reid, bandedas a chickon the , and therefore presumably iscauta. pers.comm.). Reid also remains skeptical of thesefield marks, having Tosow even more confusion, ongoing genetic work and specimen observedbirds with yellowculminicorns and whiter heads, and dark researchindicates that T cauta,sensu stricto, may actually be more than culminicornswith grayerheads. onetaxon. The 250 pairs of ShyAlbatrosses breeding on PedraBranca, Size.Although this difference is too subtleto be usefulin the field,the southof Tasmania,may be geneticallydistinct from other Shy Australiancauta are smaller as a groupthan the NewZealand steadi, Albatrossesbreeding elsewhere off Tasmania,as well as from T steadi. with smalleraverage culmen, tarsi, and wing chordmeasurements Perhapsthe one generalizationthat canbe madeis that those (Table1). The defining characteristic appears to bewing size, in which specimensor livebirds having measurements in the lowerrange are Robertsonand Nunn (1998)reported that there is no overlapbetween cauta,probably from Albatross Island, while those at the highend of cautaand steadi. However, this conclusion may be premature (Table 1; thespectrum are probably steadi. Those in the mid-rangemay not be cj[.Table 2). diagnosablebywing measurements. More research isdearly needed in Usingthe differential size of wingchords of T. cautaand T steadi thiscomplex. to differentiatethe birds as separate taxa is not withoutcomplications. Additionally,culmen and tarsusmeasurements overlap and are In termsof methodology,the measurementof birdsis an inexactsci- thususeful only in conjunctionwith wingmeasurements. Reid (pers. ence,particularly live birds. It isan acceptedfact that different measur- comm.)reports specimens with culmenmeasurements exceeding all ersget differentmeasurements (Hedd et al. 1998).Comparing mea- measurementsof bothtaxa in Tablel that fit comfortablywithin the surementsof two differenttaxa, by differentobservers, may either cautawing measurement grouping. underestimateor exaggeratethe differences between them. Data sets of D#A.Robertson and Nunn (1998) reported,although without data, measurementsbya singleobserver of twopopulations (e.g., Table 1) are that the resultsof mitochondrialDNA cytochrome-bgene sequences importantbecause the comparisongroups are consistent.Even with supportsthe separation of T cautaand T steadiinto separatespecies, thesedata, however, differences between the largest T. cautaand small- buttheir analysis also relies on"clearly unique morphological diagnos- estT steadiin measurementsof femalesis a slight7 mm (578vs. 585 ablefeatures" such as wing size. The latter may not be supporte•l given mm). Thereis no differencebetween the largestcauta male and the the variation in T. cauta measurements from Albatross Island and the smalleststeadi male (590 mm). Mewstonereported above. As Robertson and Nunn (1998) noted, aside The problemsextend beyond methodology, however. Examining from wing morphometrics,"other differencesseem less clear-cut" unpublisheddata indicates that there is overlap between the two taxain between cauta and steadi. wingsize. Thus far the only systematic comparisons are based on birds Breedinõperiod. There is at leasta two-monthdifference in timing from Albatross Island (north of Tasmania, Australia) and betweenthe egg-laying periods of thetwo taxa(Robertson and Nunn DisappointmentIsland (AucklandIslands, New Zealand),and it 1998).There is alsoa differencein nestingcycle duration. Of thetwo, appearsthat the threeAustralian populations (Albatross Island, the T cautahas the shorter nesting-cycle and breeds earlier, breeding in the Mewstone,and ) may have size differences among them, australspring, laying eggs from mid-Septemberand hatchingin late with somespecimens of theMewstone birds overlapping with females Novemberand earlyDecember (Le Sou•f 1895,Robertson and van fromNew Zealand in measurementsof wings (C. J.R. Robertsonpers. Tets1982), with a meanincubation period of 72 days(68-75, n = 15; comm.).Tim Reid(pers. comm.) reports that in measurements(by a Robertsonand van Tets 1982). The chicks fledge in theaustral autumn, singleinvestigator) of livebirds at the nestingground, birds from the lateMarch and early April (Marchantand Higgins 1990, Hedd et al. Mewstonehave significantly longer wings (range =- 554-595 mm, n = 1998).The entireprocess thus lasts about eight months. T. steaditakes 20) thanthose from Albatross Island (range = 515-590mm, n = 36). longerto completenesting (10 months).It beginsin the late austral Thesedata reveal that thereare overlapsbetween steadi and at least spring(late November)and fledgeschicks early the next spring somepopulations of cauta.There are no measurementsasyet from the (August;Robertson in Powlesland1985, Marchant and Higgins 1990, colonyon PedraBranca. Brotherset al. 1997). To furthercloud the picture,Reid (pers. comm.) reports that in Conclusion.Despite identification difficulties posed by the cautalsteadi the studyundertaken by Hedd et al. (1998),there were two distinct complex,the PointArena bird is identifiableas a ShyAlbatross, T. groupingsof albatrosswing lengths, one at 540-606mm (n = 42), the cauta,sensu stricto, based on theyellow in thebase of theculminicom,

VOLUHE54 (Z000), NUHBERZ lZ9 as well as its cheek and neck coloring.After comparing photosof the Point Arena bird with his photosof T. cauta nesting at Albatross Island, Gary Nunn (pers. comm.) concurredwith this identification. After a review of photos,Tim Reid (pers. comm.) concludes that althoughhe isnot convinced it is cauta because of the unreliabilityof field marks, the bird shows "all of the characteristics of a classic Shy Albatross,with quite greycheeks giving a capped appearance,a yellow base to theculminicorn and the very little(or no) greyat thetip of the lower mandible." The Point Arena bird's bill color Figure5. Bill of ShyAlbatross collected off WashingtonState, I September1951 (USNM420017). and lack of a partial collar are consistentwith adultplumage, though the apparentdark in the photographsof birdsof thiscomplex (see, e.g., Harrison 1984, Bourne mandibularunguis may indicate a youngadult. As the sexesare out- 1984).Further, even in adultplumage, the White-capped Albatross is wardlyalike (Marchant and Higgins 1990), it isimpossible to knowthe onlyseparated from the ShyAlbatross bysubtle and perhaps not defin- bird'ssex. The call is consistentwith MacLean's(1993) and Sinclair's itivefield marks, as discussed above. It thusis an understatement to say (1984) descriptionof Shy Albatrosscall as waak,which Sinclair thatthe bird's"migratory strategy and route [are] not well known" (del describesas "a loud,raucous call." The wing molt--old outerpri- Hoyoet al. 1992).However, given the suggested split of T.cauta and T. maries,new innerones, with a missingfeather in between--suggestssteadi, and the questionof eachtaxon's dispersal globally, I herefocus seriallydescendant molt, as is expectedin the ShyAlbatross (Melville on recordsof bothtaxa from areas away from the breeding grounds. 1991). Evenbefore the paperby Robertsonand Nunn (1998), some DISTRIBUTION authorstreated Shy/White-capped complex [= Diornedeacauta cauta] asdifferent from Salvin's and Chatham Albatrosses, and provided dis- The ShyAlbatross breeds only in Australia,with nestingcolonies on tributionalinformation on thisbasis. From such sources, it is possible AlbatrossIsland off the northwesttip of Tasmania,and on two rocky to determinethat off the breedinggrounds, the Shy/White-capped islands,the Mewstoneand PedraBranca, off its southcoast (Croxall and Albatrossis circumpolarand rangeswidely at seain the southern Gales1998, Trounson and Trounson1989). Once breedingage is Pacific,Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, north to about25øS, but parimar- attained,ShyAlbatross ranges less widely than do young birds (Brothers et al. 1997, Croxall and Gales 1998). ily southof 40øS(Harrison 1985, 1987a,b, Tickell 1995). South of Australia and New Zealand, it is found in northern sub-Antarctic Band recoveries for birds banded on Albatross Island and the Mewstoneshow that the ShyAlbatross ranges up both coastsof watersto at least52øS (Bretagnolle and Thomas 1987). Both the Shy Australia to about 25•S (Brothers et al. 1997). In Victoria and and White-cappedAlbatrosses are found in southernAfrican and South American waters. TasmanJanwaters it is perhapsthe mostcommon albatross (Serventy et al. 1971, Barton 1979), and it is "abundant" off the coast of New Af•ka. Basedon band recoveries and specimen measurements, T.cauta SouthWales. However, the large numbers of cauta-typealbatrosses and is certainlyand T. steadiis almostcertainly found off the coastsof themeasurements of cauta-type albatrosses taken in EasternAustralian Africa.Harrison (1985) reportedthat "present evidence suggests that waters indicate that some on this coast are T. steadi from New Zealand D.c. cauta wanderswest acrossthe Indian Oceanto Cape seas." (Marchantand Higgins1990, Brothers et al. 1997,T. Reid pers. Referencesto "Shy Albatross" before the proposed split report it to bea comm.).On theother hand, Croxall and Gales (1998:54) reported that "commonvisitor" to the coastsof SouthAfrica (Sinclair1984), record- T. steadi"appears to be confinedto NewZealand seas." T. cautafrom ed throughoutthe year(Liversidge 1959) but achievingthe greatest the Mewstonehave alsobeen found off New Zealand (Marchant and concentrationsin the australwinter (August; Shackleton and Stokes Higgins 1990). The White-cappedAlbatross, T. steadi,breeds on 1968,Brooke and Sinclair 1978). It is found as far south as 44øSand as DisappointmentIsland in theAuckland Islands group south of New far westas 8ø15 ' E (Van Oordtand Kruijt 1953,Summerhayes et al. Zealand. 1974,Clark 1987).Dead birds are rarely but regularlyfound washed Fartherfrom the breeding grounds, the distribution of T. cautais ashoreon SouthAfrican beaches (n = 1-5 annually;Cooper 1978, obscureand is complicatedby the taxonomicevolution of the four- Avery1979, 1984). Young ShyAlbatrosses, T.cauta, from the Mewstone memberShyAlbatross complex. Most works do not specify which sub- occurfairly commonly off SouthAfrica; indeed, four of eight(50%) speciesof theformer Diomedea cauta complex is being referred to and band recoveriesfrom immature birds banded at the Mewstone, and manyat-sea reports are simplyof "ShyAlbatross" (Tickell 1995). threeof seven(43%) bandrecoveries from first-yearbirds banded Whereas,as mentioned above,two of the taxa--Salvin's, T. salvini,and there,were from SouthAfrica (Brothers et al. 1997).Two birdscollect- Chatham,T. eremita--can be distinguished in the field from T. cauta in ed off Natal and Zululand, South Africa, in the 1950s (now in the adult plumage,separating immatures at seais difficult(Harrison DurbanMuseum collection) are describedas D.c. cautaby Clancey 1985);indeed, seabird experts disagree on the identityof published (1978)and, although unsexed, are attributable by wing measurement

130 NORTH AHERICAN BIRDS shyalbatross

(564 mm and 572 mm; Clancey1978) to T. cauta.Adult cauWdsteadi-South America. The statusof the ShyAlbatross off SouthAmerica is type birdsare alsofound off SouthAfrica (Shanghnessy and Frost similarlymurky. Harrison (1985, 1987a,b) reported that the distribu- 1976),but whether they are Mewstone birds remaining there, or T.stea- tionofD. c.cauta [= T.cauWdsteadi] in the southern Pacific ranges as far dl is notyet clear (T. Reidpers. comm.). north as25-30øS off SouthAmerica. Harrison (1985) notedthat some T steadioccurs in Africanwaters, based on onepresumably defin- birds move west acrossthe and then acrossthe southern itivespecimen from Kenya and a smallnumber of otherspecimens that Atlantic to coastsof eastern South America, while smaller numbers areprobably T. steadi. Bourne's (1977) examination and measurement appearto wandereast toward the west coast of SouthAmerica. Tickell of fiveskins in Europeancollections of cauta/steadicollected off south- (1995)showed D.c. cautaranging up thecoast of Chileand from easternAfrica included two birds that are generally larger than T. cauta 50øSto 10øS,and del Hoyo et al. (1992)stated D.c. cautaoccurs com- andthus probably T. steadi,as shown in comparisonof the measure- monlyoff SouthAmerica. These assessments arenot supported by field ments(• Table1, Table 3). Incidentally,the SouthAfrican bird, taken researchers.Eadier, Murphy (1936:526) stated that on!y D.c. salvini had offthe Cape of GoodHope in 1896,was first described as a newspecies, "thusfar been recorded with certainty in SouthAmerican waters," Slipp Thalassogeronlayardi, by Salvin(1896), then laterthought to be a (1952)noted that a 1951record off Washingtonstate (see bdow) was Salvin'sAlbatross (Bourne 1977). Bourne(1977) believedit to be a the first known occurrence of D.c. cauta in the waters of the Americas. youngcauta/steadh if correct, based on its measurements, it would be T. LarryB. Spear(pers. comm.), in hundredsof hoursof surveysin the cauta,although its measurements also fit withinthe rangeof T. salvini Perucurrent, has never seen a cauta/steadi,although T. salviniwinters (Marchantand Higgins 1990:310). therein largenumbers. Asidefrom these specimens, there are also band recoveries from AlthoughT. salviniis commonin Chileand there are photos and South African waters of at least three birds banded at sea off New reportsof ChathamAlbatross, T. eremita,in Chileanand Peruvian Zealandduring the breedingseason and thuspresumably T. steadi. waters(Haase 1994, A. Jaramillopers. comm.), A. Jaramillo,P. Burke However,T. cautadoes occur off New Zealandand thus the identityof andD. Beadle(in prep.)do notinclude the Shy Albatross [=T. cauta/T. thesebirds is not definitive(Brothers et al. 1997).Although White steadi]in theirforthcoming Field Guide to the Birds of Chile, as there are (1973)hypothesizes that they were probably subadult when banded, at no known specimensor photographicrecords from that country. leasttwo of the individualswere adults when recovered (5 years8 Howelland Webb will alsoomit the species in theirforthcoming work monthsand 11years 8 monthsbetween banding and recovery, respec- on Chileanbirds (S. N. G. Howellpets. comm.). The cauta/steadicom- tarely,White 1973). plexhas not been recorded in theCape Horn areaor Straitsof Magellan Thereis someconfusion as to whichtaxa of the ShyAlbatross either (Harrison 1985). complex(sensu lato) occurs off SouthAfrica (Brothers et al. 1997)- Althoughnot mentionedin Argentinain field guides(e.g., earlyreports claimed only D.c. salvini [=T. salvini] occurred (Van Oordt Naroskyand Yzurieta 1987), the cauta/steadicomplex does occur rarely and Kruijt 1953).Then severalresearchers and observersconcluded in the SouthAtlantic. In the watersof the Falkland Islands,cauWdsteadi that both D.c.salvini and D.c. cauta[=T. cauta/steadi]were present is a regularbut rarevisitor in late(anstral) summer, autumn and early (White 1973, Brookeand Sindair 1978 (nominate race "commoner winter(R. White pets. comm.). Woods (1988) reported eight sightings thansalvinf'), Harrison 1984), while others argued that only the D.c. olD. c. cautain watersoff the FalklandIslands, three in late March 1987, cautaoccurred (Bourne 1977, 1982, Clancey 1978). This confusion is one in April 1986,and four betweenJune and August1984. The undoubtedlyexacerbated bythe fact that most of theband recoveries of T cauta from South African waters have been from immature and first- "Seabirdsat SeaTeam" (whose at-sea surveys covered 50,000 km overan 18-monthperiod starting February 1998 and recordedover 250,000 yearbirds, which can have extensive gray in theirheads, as does T. salvi- m (Brotherset al. 1997). seabirds)observed a total of 16"Shy" [= Diomedeacauta complex] alba- trossesoff the Falklands in 1998,2 in February,2 in March,9 in April,1 Outsideof SouthAfrican waters, the cauwdsteadicomplex is in Mayand 2 in July.Most birds were iramatures, several showing char- foundoff boththe east and west coast of Africa.Along the southwest- acteristicsof Salvin'sAlbatross and severalpossible cauta/steadi; one ern coastof AfricaT. cauta/steadiis found off Namibiaand regularly recordis of an adultof the cauwdsteaditype (R. Whiteand R. Woods, northat leastto Angola,around 15øS (Summerhayes et al. 1974,Sinclair pers.comm.). There is a specimen •lescribed asan adult D.c. cauta taken 1984,Harrison 1985, 1987a, b, Tickell1995). In thisregion, it is more off SouthGeorgia on 16 November1926 in the LiverpoolMuseum commonin the australwinter (August-October)than in summer (Bourne 1977, Prince and Croxall 1983). There is one record of (February),although surveys have found concentrations of up to 100in Diomedeacauta for Brazil,a youngfemale found dead on a beachin Rio autumn,too: March, April, and May (Summerhayeset al. 1974). Grandedo SUl State (30 ø 55'S, 50 ø 45'W), extreme south Brazil, in April Off theeast coast of Africa,the cauta/steadi complex ranges much 1990(Petry et al. 1991).The specimen isno. 36922 in thecollection of farthernorth, being "possibly regular" in fallin thePemba Channel off theMuseu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Petry et al. (1991)could not of northernTanzania (Zimmerman et al. 1996),at approximately5øS determinethe subspecies of D. cautaand felt it mightit be D.c. salvini latitudeA near-adultfemale described as Diomedea cauta cauta caught basedon underwingpattern. On thebasis of itsmeasurements•wing in fishingnets off Mombasaat 4øS,on 14November 1986 provided a = 580 ram, tarsus= 95.7 ram, culmen= 129mm (Table1; cf. measure- firstrecord for Kenya (Cunningham-van Someren 1988). The specimen mentfor T. salviniin Bourne1977, Marchant and Higgins 1990)--the is nowin the collectionof the Departmentof Ornithology,National bird could be either T. salvinior T. steadi,and is within millimeters of Museumsof Kenya(J. Githaiga-Mwicigipers. comm.). Based on its theupper measurements for femaleT. cauta. measurements--culmen= 136 mm, wing = 610mm (reportedas"61 At thispoint, it is unclearwhether or not it is cautaor steadi,or ram"in errorin Cunningham-vanSomere. n 1988), tarsus = 93 ram-- both, which occurin small numbersoff Atlantic SouthAmerica. Birds theKenya bird presumably is T. steadi. in the cauWdsteadicomplex have shown a propensityfor wanderingto Thereis one reportof Diomedeacauta, possibly a Salvin's(see theNorthern Hemisphere. below),off the coastof Sorealia,at 1lø50'N latitude (Meeth and Meeth 1988) To date,only cauta/steadi of the Shy Albatross complex is con- NORTHERN HEMISPHERE RECORDS firmedas occurring in EastAfrican waters (J. Githaiga-Mwicigi pers. OF SHY ALBATROSS RE-EXAMINED corem) LarryB. Spear (pers. comm.) reported seeing a fewcauta/stea- In additionto the PointArena sighting, there are five more northern d• winteringoff Madagascar,and Enticottand Tipling(1997) men- hemisphererecords of theShy Albatross complex. The Somali bird men- tioneda recordof D. cautafrom Manritius but provided no details. tionedabove was not identified to species,but the other four were report-

VOLUME54 (2000), NUMBER2 131 ed as the nominate Diomedea cauta cauta: one record from the Gulf of Oregon•1996. The secondNorth American record of the cauta/stea& Aqaba (Egypt and Israel) and one from Oregon and two from complexwas a bird well-photographedover the northend of Heceta Washingtonstate. A sightreport of Salvin'sAlbatross from California was Bank,40 km westof Yachats,Lincoln County, Oregon, 5 October1996 notaccepted hy the California Bird Records Committee (Rottenborn and (Hunterand Bailey 1997, 1998). The bird appearedto observersto be Mofian2000). Given the suggested split of/). c.cauta into Shy Albatross, in transitionfrom juvenalto subadultplumage (Hunter and Bailey 77.cauta, and White-capped Albatross, T. steadi,all of theserecords must 1997).Hunter and Bailey (1997) provide the followingdescription of be re-examinedto determinetheir taxa.Fortunately, two of the five the relevant features: recordsare represented by specimensand two morewere extensively "Thephotos clearly show a lightgray wash on the sidesof the photographed.In undertakingthis re-examination, I focttsed on the lowerneck, which, to ourknowledge, was not observedby anyonein colorof theculminicorn, perhaps the onlyreliable field mark for sepa- thefield. The bill islarge, and nearly featureless gray to gray-green,with ratingthe taxa, as well as wing, culmen, and tarsus measurements in the a complexof duskyand yellow at thetip, and a narrowblack line at the twoavailable specimens. In the scope of myresearch, I examined one of baseof theupper mandible. The brightest yellow of thebill isconfined thetwo extant specimens from the Northern Hemisphere. It appears that primarilyto the cuttingedge, especially near the tip of the upper tworecords cannot be identified to taxon---oneis possibly T. salvini or T. mandible,while the upperand lower extents of the tip showdusky eremita(Somalia) and one dearly T. cauta/steadi(Oregon). Of the smudges." remainder,one is T.steadi (Washington 1951), and the other two T.cauta Matt Hunter(pers. comm.) also described the bill coloras "sort of (Israel/Egyptand Washington 2000). Thus, both cautaand steadi have dishwatergreenish gray, with a tip of mixedyellow and extensive occurredin theNorthern Hemisphere. dusky."Hunter noted that the bill colorwas between that illustrated for Washin9ton, 1951. The oldestrecord from the NorthernHemisphere is immaturesand adults in Harrison(1985) and better matched the photo fromWashington state. This bird, reported as Diornedea cauta cauta, was labeled"subadult" in Harperand Kinsky(1978:21); however, the an adultfemale collected on 1 September1951 by J.W.Slipp, 65 km west subadultin Harperand Kinsky.has already lost all its gray on theneck of theQuillayute River, Clallam County, Washington (Slipp 1952). This and hasa bill colorindicating a moremature bird comparedto the bird--theonly specimen from North America--appears to be a White- Oregonbird: the bill of thebird in theHarper and Kinsky photo being cappedAlbatross, Thalassarche steadi, which would represent a new taxon quitefrosty white/gray versus the duller green/gray of theOregon bncd for North America(A.O.U. 1998)and the firstrecord of T. steadifor the (M. Hunterpers. comm.). Therefore, on present knowledge, it appears NorthernHemisphere. I base the identification of thebird on itsbill col- thatthe Oregon bird cannotbe identifiedto taxonas the potential field orationfrom accountsat the time the bird wascollected (and examina- mark of culminicorncoloration does not emergeuntil adulthood tionof thespecimen), and on wing, bill, and tarsus measurements. Somehave suggested that this bird is the sameindividual as the 1999 Bill.After examining the bird in hand,Slipp (1952) wrote that the Californiarecord and the 2000 Washington record. culminicorn(and the restof thebill). was "generally light gray with a Washington,:•000. The mostrecent record is alsofrom Washington slightyellowish tinge;' with a "richcorn yellow" nail. After examining state:on 22 January 2000, a pelagic birding trip organized hy Terry Wahl the specimen(USNM 420017;Fig. 5), I confirmedSlipp's observation: encountereda cauta/steadi-type albatross at 46ø 54' N and 124ø 54' W theculminicorn is a grayishhorn color from the base to thepoint where off Westport,Grays Harbor County, Washington (B. Tweit,R Shaw thebill curvesdownward. From there to the tip of thebill it isyellow pers.comm.). Photographs I have examined (Fig. 6) showthe &agnos- witha streakof thegrayish horn. The lack of distinctyellow in thebase tic featuresof the cauta/steadicomplex: dark gray-black mantle, dean of the culminicorn indicates 77.steadi. Measurements confirm this iden- whiteunderparts, dean white underwings with a thinblack edge and a tification.Slipp measured the culmen at 136mm. This is larger than any darkspot at pointwhere the leading edge of thewing meets the body, culmen measurements of a female T. cauta or 77.steadi in the limited anda relativelyclean white head with a faintgray wash to thenape and dataavailable (Table 1), but the largerculmen also points to 77.steadi. cheeks. The bird was observed for about 25 minutes as it fed on chum The largestculmen among T. cautafemales was 132.3mm (mean= andflew short distances near the boat. Both Laysan and Black-footed 127,16mm, n = _+30);the largest among T. steadi females was 135.6 mm Albatrosseswere also present for comparison. Bill Tweit (pers. comm ) (mean= 130.6mm, n = _+30;C. J.R. Robertsonunpubl. data). suppliedthe following description: Wing.Slipp measured the wing chord at 584 mm, andJames Dean "Alarge, white bodied albatross. First seen in flight,where the dark of the U.S.National Museum remeasured it at 586 mm in July2000, brownupperwings grading into a grayishback, sharply contrasting whichalso indicates T. steadi.The largest female T. cautameasurement whiterump anddark gray rectrices made it clearwe were looking at a is 578 mm (mean= 553 mm, n = _+30),whereas T. steadiranges from mollymawkand not a Laysan.White neck also contrasted pretty dean- 585-4525mm (Tablel), althoughHedd et al. (1998) reportedfemale ly with grayback. Upper surface of theouter primaries showed a small wing chordmeasurements, presumably from steadi,up to 696 mm whiteflash. As it banked,I couldsee the underwing pattern very dear- (Table2). Whilethe measurementsof the Washington bird weretaken ly,with narrowblack outlining brilliant white underwings and a circu- froma "thoroughlydried skin" (Slipp 1952), I believethey are compa- larblack dot at thejuncture of theforewing and the body.... As it land- rableto themeasurements of live birds (Table 1). There are also poten- ednear the stern, I gotmy first good look at thedetails of thehead and tially largercauta than thosepresented in Table1 breedingat the beakcoloration. The massivebeak was a greenish-yellowin tone, wnth Mewstone(see above). a lighterstripe on the ridgeof the uppermandible, and a contrasting Tarsus.Slipp measured the tarsusat 92 mm. Althoughthe tarsus brightyellow-orange tip. The iriswas dark, accentuated by a darkash measurementis in a smallzone of overlapbetween T cauta(82.9-92.3 lineover it anda stronggray smudge behind it. Thecrown was bright mm, n = _+30)and T. steadi(88-101 mm, n = _+30),it is at theupper- white,while the faceand the napewere dusted with grayishthat had most bound of measurements for cauta and well within those for stea- somehints of yellow-brown.Legs and feet pinkish, darker at thewebs di.When taken with thewing and culmen measurements this measure- Sizeand shape contrasts with nearhy Black-footed and Laysan Albatross ment,too, points to T. steadi. wereobvious. This was deafly a biggerbird, seemingly 20% or more Thus, based on the combination of field marks and measure- The chestappeared much more massive in flight,and the beakwas ments,the 1951Washington bird appearsto be identifiableas T. steadi. muchthicker, particularly at thebase." C. J.R. Robertson(pets. comm.) independenfiy reached this conclusion Observersdid not doselynote the color of the culminicorn,but basedon his research. The presence of thespecimen at theU.S. National fromthe photosit appearsto be yellowish,indicating the bird is T Museumwould allow DNA testingto supportthis identification. cauta,a firstfor WashingtonState. This identification is alsoinchcated

132 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS ?hyalbatross bythe dark cheeks and neck (T. Reid pers. comm.). The inevitable ques- wasseen in lateAugust, consistent with the two previousearly to mid- ttonrs, was the bird off Washington in January2000 the samebird seen fall sightings(1 Septemberand 5 October)in the northernPacific. off Californiain August19997 This question is unanswerable,unless Finally,as Slipp (1952:459)concluded about the Washingtonstate pelagtc-tripoperators begin catching and banding or otherwisemark- record,the albatross'"size and nature would render it a mostunlikely tngvagrant albatrosses. captive:' Israel,1981. An immatureof the cauta/steadicomplex was seen 20-26 SUMMARY February1981 from Taba, Egypt and Elat, Israel in the Gulfof Aqaba. The bird seenoff PointArena, California, in August1999 is identifi- The birdwas seen again 2 March1981, and was later found dying on a ableas a ShyAlbatross, Thalassarche cauta, sensu stricto. Examining saltpond at Elat,Israel, 7 March 1981and wascollected (R. Nathan prior recordsof the Shy Albatrosscomplex from the Northern perscomm., Goodman and Storer 1987, Hillcoat et al. 1997).The bird Hemisphereand comparingthem to known morphometricsof T. tserroneously reported as "found dead" in severalpublished references cautaand the recently-suggestedsplit T. steadi,I haveconcluded that tnclu&ngJennings (1985), Meeth and Meeth(1988), and Snowand both T. cautaand T steadihave previously occurred in the Northern Perrins(1998). The specimenis no.9659 at theTel Aviv University Hemisphere,but that prior to thePoint Arena sighting, the only iden- Museum (Paz 1987).It wasreported as nominate D.c. cauta(Beaman tifiablerecord of thisspecies complex in NorthAmerica was a T. stea- andMadge 1998). It wasa male(R. Nathan, pers. comm.), and its mea- di, offWashington state in 1951.The PointArena bird thusrepresents surements-wing= 583 ram, culmen= 13.1ram, tarsus = 90 mm (Y. the first definitiveT. cautafor North America,although a subadult Yom-Tovpers. comm.)-•confirm it asT. cauta(see Table 1). bird of the cauta/steadicomplex well seenoff Oregonin 1996but not Sorealia,1986. An albatrosswas seen from a freighter,18 nautical miles identifiableto taxon,could have been a cauta.The 2000Washington off CapeGuardafui, Somalia (11 ø 50' N, 51ø 35' E), 18September 1986 bird mayrepresent a secondT. cautafor NorthAmerica, although the (Me•th andMeeth 1988). The observersnoted "a large,long-winged factthat it mightbe the sameindividual as seen off Californiacannot albatrossThe upperwing and back were sooty grey, crown of headand be ruled out. cheekswere light grey. The largewhite rump was conspicuous. The underpartswere white except for the blackwing tips, and a verythin ACKNOWLEDGMENTS darkleading and trailing edge. The bill wasgrey" (Meeth and Meeth I thank DavidAinley, Alvaro Jaramillo, Joseph Morlan, Michael A. 198866) The birdwas too far awayto seethe diagnosticdark spot Patten,Tim Reid,Don Roberson,and AngusWilson for generous underthe leading edge of thewing. Based on thefield marks observed and insightfulcomments and edits on an earliermanuscript. I thank and described,this bird is not identifiableto specieswithin the Shy MatthewHunter, Alvaro Jaramillo, Ran Nathan, Gary B. Nunn,Tim Albatross(= Diomedeacauta) complex. The grayhead fits all four Reid,Chris J.R. Robertson, Larry Spear,Richard White, and Robin membersof thecomplex in juvenaland subadult plumage, and Salvin's Woodsfor inputon, and unpublished research data used in, thisarti- and Chathamin adultplumage (Harrison 1985, 1987b), although the cle. I also thank Ronnie Broadfoot (Museum of Comparative blackw•ng tips, especially seen at a distance,suggest a Salvin's Albatross, Zoology), JamesDean (Division of Birds, National Museum of Thalassarchesalvini (Barfie 1975, Barton 1979, Bourne 1983) or Natural History),Jean Githaiga-Mwicigi (National Museums of ChathamAlbatross, T. eremita(Marchant and Higgins 1990, del Hoyo Kenya), Janet Hinshaw (Library of the Wilson Ornithological et al 1992). Society),Steve Johnson (Parks and Wildlife Serviceof Tasmania), STATUS AND MOVEMENTS RobinPanza (Carnegie Museum of NaturalHistory), Yoram Yom- Tov(Department of Zoology,Tel Aviv University), and the librarians The world population of the Shy Albatrossis estimatedat of the CaliforniaAcademy of Sciencesfor their patienceand gen- 55,000-60,000individuals, although this estimate is of"moderate accu- erositywith researchmaterials, and Bill Bouton,Stephen Davies, racyonly" (Gales 1998:29). The ShyAlbatross has suffered from its Kimball Garrett, Paul Harris, Steve N.G. Howell, Dennis J. Martin, interacttons with humans. The first known encounter with man JenniferMarltin, Bert McKee, Dan Nelson, Dennis Paulson,Martin occurredin 1798,when the explorersMatthew Flinders and George Schaefers,Ryan Shaw,Bill Tweit,and AngusWilson for research Bassohscovered Albatross Island. As Flinders wrote, putting ashore, Bass materials and information used in this article. was"obllgedto fighthis way up the cliffs of theisland with the seals, and whenarrived at the top, to makea roadwith his clubs amongst the alba- LITERATURE CITED trosses"(Mathews 1912). The Shy Albatrossbreeding colony at Alexander,K., G. Robertson,and R. Gales. 1997. The incidental mor- AlbatrossIsland was decimated, first by seal hunters and later by plume tality of albatrossesin longline :A report on the hunters,reducing population from an estimateof 20,000pairs in the Workshopfrom the First International Conference on the Biology late19th century (Croxall and Gales 1998, Gales 1998) to +400nests in and Conservationof Albatrosses(, Australia,September 1894(Warham 1990) and +_300 nests by 1909(Gales 1998, del Hoyo et 1995), Australian Antarctic Division, Tasmania. al 1992)The Albatross Island breeding colony has recovered to about Alexander,W. B. 1928.Birds of theOcean: A Handbookfor Voyagers. 5000 breedingpairs today (Croxalland Gales1998). The nesting G. P. Putnam'sSons, New York. colomesat the isolatedrocks of the Mewstone and Pedra Branca,off Alexander,W. B., R. A. Falla, C. Jouanin,R. C. Murphy, F. southernTasmania, have an estimatedbreeding population of 7000 Salomonsen,K. H. Voous, G. E. Watson, W. R. P. Bourne, C. A. parrsand 200.250 pairs, respectively (Gales 1998, Brothers et al. 1998). Fleming,N.H. Kuroda,M. K. Rowan,D. L. Serventy,W. L. N. Howwould a ShyAlbatrossend up offCalifornia? As Stallcup and Tickell, J. Warham, and J. M. Winterbottom. 1965. The families Terrill (1996) noted,in "mostsituations, one cannever know with cer- and generaof petrelsand their names.Ibis 107:401-405. tamP/thata vagrantseabird has arrived at a locationwithout direct AmericanOrnithologists' Union (A.O.U.). 1997.Forty-first supple- humaninvolvement." However, given the distributionand history of mentto theAmerican Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North wandenngin the cauta/steadicomplex, whereas ship assistance shotfid American Birds. Auk 114:542-552. be takeninto consideration(Harrison 1985, Mlodinow 1999),it seems AmericanOrnithologists' Union (A.O.U.). 1998.Check-list of North hkelythat the PointArena Shy Albatross arrived unaided. Members of American Birds, 7th ed. American Ornitholigists'Union, the cauta/steadicomplex have journeyed to theNorthern Hemisphere Washington,DC. at leastthree, perhaps four previoustimes, twice to the northwestern AustralianMarine Conservation Society. 1997. Albatross listed under coast of the United States. These earlier records from the Pacific Coast the Bonn Convention.Australian Marine ConservationSociety illustrateits potentialfor long-distancevagrancy (Roberson 1980). It Bulletin 20:1.

VOLUME54 (2000), NUMBER2 133 Avery,G. 1979. Resultsof beachpatrols conducted in 1978. Goodman,S. M., and R.W. Storer.1987. The seabirdsof the Egypttan Cormorant 6:4-12. Red Sea and adjacentwaters, with noteson selectedctcom- Avery,G. 1984.Results of patrolsfor beachedseabirds conducted in iformes.Gerfaut 77:109-145. Southern Africa in 1982. Cormorant 12:29-33. Gould, J. 1841. Proceedingsof the ZoologicalSociety of London Baird,S. F, T. M. Brewer,and R. Ridgway.1884. TheWater Birds of 8:169-178. North America. Little Brown, Boston. Gould,J. 1865.Handbook to theBirds of Australia, vol. 2. JohnGould, Barfie,J. A. 1975.Further notes on Procellariiformesoccurring in London. Cook Strait. Notornis 22:345-346. Green,R.H., andB.C. Mollison. 1961. Birds of PortDavey and South Bartle,J. A. 1991.Incidental capture of seabirdsin the New Zealand Coast of Tasmania. Emu 61:223-236. subantarcticsquid trawl , 1990. Bird Conservation Haase,B. 1994.A ChathamIsland Mollymawk off the Peruvian coast International 1:351-359. Notornis 41:50. Barton, D. 1979. Albatrossesin the western . Emu Harper,P.C., and EC. Kinsky.1978. Southern Albatrosses and Petrels 79:31-35. An IdentificationGuide. Price Milburn and Company, Welhngton, Beaman,M., andS. Madge. 1998. The Handbook of Bird Identification New Zealand. for Europeand the Western Palearctic. Princeton University Press, Harrison, P. 1984. Shy Albatross,tangible field-marksand Dr Princeton,New Jersey. Bourne. British Birds 77:427-428. Bourne, W.R.P. 1977. Albatrossesoccurring off South Africa. Harrison, P. 1985. Seabirds:An IdentificationGuide, rev ed Cormorant 2:7-10. HoughtonMifflin, Boston. Bourne,W.R.P. 1982. Identificationof mollymawks.British Birds Harrison,P. 1987a.A FieldGuide to theSeabirds of the World. Stephen 75:588. GreenePress, Lexington, Massachusetts. Bourne,W.R.P. 1983. Shy Albatrosses, elusive Capped Petrels, and Harrison,P. 1987b.Seabirds of the World:a PhotographicGuzde greataccumulations of shearwaters. British Birds 76:583-584. PrincetonUniversity Press, Princeton, New Jersey. Bourne,W.R.P. 1984. Shy Albatrosses,storm-petrels and Mr. Hedd, A., R. P. Gales,N. Brothers,and N. Robertson.1997 Dtwng Harrison. British Birds 77:428-429. behaviourof the shyalbatross Diomedea cauta in Tasmaniatm- Bourne,W.R.P. 1999.Albatross names. Notornis 46:498-499. tial findingsand dive recorder assessment. Ibis 139:452-460 Bourne,W.R.P., and J.Warham. 1999. Albatross taxonomy. Birding Hedd,A., R. Gales,and N. Brothers.1998. Reliability of morphome- World 12:123-124. tric measuresfor determiningthe sexof adultand fiedghngshy Bretagnolle,V., andT. Thomas.1990. Seabird distribution between albatrosses,Diomedea cauta cauta, in Australia.Wildlife Research Tasmaniaand AddlieLand (Antarctica),and comparisonwith 25:69-79. nearbyAntarctic sectors. Emu 90:97-107. Hillcoat,B., G. O. Keijl,C. $. Roselaar,and D. I. M. Wallace 1997 Brooke,R. K., and J. C. Sinclair.1978. Preliminary list of southern Speciesnew to the westernPalearctic. Acddentals. D•omedea African seabirds. Cormorant 4:10-17. cauta,Shy albatross. BWP Update1:57-59. Brothers,N.P. 1979.Seabird Islands: Mewstone, Tasmania. Corella Howard,R., andA. Moore.1991. A CompleteChecklist of theB•rds of 3:68-69. the World.Academic Press, Boston. Brothers,N. E, T. Reid,T., and R. P.Gales. 1997. At-sea distribution Hunter,M. G., and D.C. Bailey.1997. Oregon's First White capped of ShyAlbatrosses Diomedea cauta cauta derived from records of Albatross( Diomedeacauta cauta). Oregon Birds 23:35-39 band recoveries and colour-marked birds. Emu 97:231-239. Hunter,M. G., and D.C. Bailey.1998. Shy ConclusionsBudding Brothers,N., R. Gales,A. Hedd, and G. Robertson.1998. Foraging 30:234-239. movementsof the ShyAlbatross Diomedea cauta breeding in Jennings,M. 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