The bird was banded in 2006 on Isla Guadelupe as a flightless hatch-year bird. It has a colored (orange w/ black alpha) and a US metal band. I would assume the banders knew both parents.
https://www.flickr.com/search/?details=1&w=24226259@N06&q=albatross David Irons wrote:
Hi Mike,
We were going to have pink salmon for dinner, but after seeing your
photos of all the funky pink stuff on the beach we are not so sure.
On a different topic -- As I looked through your recent postings, I came
across your blog piece about the "Laysan Albatross" that you got to
touch. While looking at the images, I realized that something (actually
several somethings) didn't look right. The albatross has almost no white
on the rump or base of the tail. Should have lots in any plumage of a
pure Laysan. Also, the face and bill pattern look strange. I had
Shawneen look at the photos and she agreed that the bird looked odd. We
pulled out our copy of Steve N.G. Howell's seabird book ("Petrels,
Albatrosses and Storm-Petrels of North America") and found several
photos of putative Laysan Albatross X Black-footed Albatross hybrids
that have face and bill patterns, along with rump/tail patterns that
match what I see in your photos.
Do you have any other photos of this bird and/or do you remember
anything else about it that might have seemed out of sync for a pure Laysan?
We'll look forward to hearing more.
Dave Irons
-- Mike Patterson Astoria, OR String Theory http://www.surfbirds.com/community-blogs/northcoastdiaries/?p=2182 OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol Manage your account or unsubscribe: //www.freelists.org/list/obol Contact moderators: obol-moderators@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
