Where do Royal Albatross live?

Answer 1

What you are calling an "Antarctic Albatross" is actually know as the "Wandering Albatross." (genus Diomedea exulans.) This oceanic bird has hatching/rearing grounds in the islands of the South Pacific. Often seen in the region of the Antarctic, its origins are not found there. Its actually a "Globe-Trotter" in that the bird circum-navigates the globe several times before returning to its hatching ground to mate.

Answer 2

Well, after fledging, they spend several years at sea before returning to home base. So at sea is where they live. They surface fish.

[After several years at sea, they are simple to catch, as for a few years they have landed by putting their feet in a 'braking' attitude, and land in the sea. When this trick is tried on land, they tumble over, and are easily caught for banding. ]

The Royal Albatross Diomedea epomophora is currently considered to have two subgroups.

The large Southern Royal Albatross var epomophora breeds on the Auckland Islands and Campbell Islands, well south of New Zealand.

The smaller one, var sanfordi breeds at the Chatham islands and at Tairoa Head, near Dunedin. The two forms have interbred at Tairoa Head.

They lay one egg of about 400 g, and the incubation period is about 78 days, followed by parent feeding, and with fledging at around 8 months. Thus they tend to breed every second year, unless the chick fails in which case they breed again next year. Pair bonds are life-long, but if one bird fails to return, a new partner may be chosen.

Young return to their home base at 3 to 8 years, but do not start breeding till about 6 to 10 years. The oldest banded bird was known to be 51 years old and may have been 61 years.

The above data mostly from ...Birds of New Zealand by Heather and Ongley. 1996.