Black-browed Albatross

The Black-browed Albatross is among the most numerous and frequently encountered albatrosses, breeding across a range of subantarctic and temperate southern islands. Its combination of white body, gray upperwing, and a distinctive dark eyebrow mark makes it one of the more readily identified smaller albatrosses.

• Head and body feathers are white, with a bold blackish stripe of feathers running through and behind the eye, giving a stern, browed appearance
• Upperwing feathers are uniformly dark gray to blackish, contrasting sharply with the white body and underwing
• Underwing feathers are mostly white with a broad blackish leading edge and narrower dark trailing edge, forming a distinctive dark-bordered white underwing
• Tail feathers are white with a dark tip band
• Flight feathers are long and narrow, adapted for efficient dynamic soaring, though shorter overall than those of the great albatrosses

• Adults show a white head and body, gray upperwing, and a broadly dark-margined white underwing, with the dark eyebrow stripe present year-round
• Juveniles have a grayish wash on the head and neck, a dark collar, and a more extensively dark underwing than adults, gradually acquiring the adult pattern over several years
• Sexes are similar in plumage
• Molt is gradual and protracted, spread across the non-breeding period between long breeding cycles

Black-browed Albatrosses breed colonially on subantarctic and temperate islands in the Southern Ocean, including the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, and various islands off Chile and New Zealand, nesting on tussock-covered slopes and cliffs. Outside the breeding season they range widely over southern oceans and can reach temperate coastal waters at the edges of their range, including occasional wanderers well outside their usual range.

This albatross forages by seizing fish, squid, and crustaceans from the surface, often scavenging behind fishing vessels and around trawlers. It breeds annually in dense colonies, building a raised pedestal-shaped nest of mud and vegetation, and pairs perform mutual bill-touching and vocal displays during courtship. Calls include harsh braying and croaking notes given mainly around the colony.