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POP2025-08 Antipodean wandering albatross and white-chinned petrels 2025/26 (PDF, 2,227K)
Summary
The Antipodean wandering albatross Diomedea antipodensis antipodensis has been in decline since a population crash in 2005–07. Declining numbers appear to have been largely driven by high female mortality, but low chick production—with fewer birds breeding and reduced breeding success—has compounded the problem. To tease out the causes of falling numbers of Antipodean wandering albatrosses and identify the effectiveness of potential solutions, research includes an annual visit to the breeding grounds on Antipodes Island. Alongside the albatross research, we conduct a mark-recapture study for white-chinned petrels. This report describes the results of the annual field programme in the 2025/26 breeding season for both Antipodean albatrosses and white-chinned petrels.
Antipodean wandering albatross. The core annual study involves mark-recapture in an intensively monitored study area and census of the annual count areas. This season’s field programme allowed updates to the trend in nesting population size, survival, productivity and recruitment. There are some signs that rates of decline are slowing; for example, the population of breeding pairs was declining at -4.7% per annum (2008–2013), which has slowed to a -3.3% decline in the last decade 2015–2024. Since 2020, female survival has stabilised at levels approaching male survival rates. Female survival has reached 90.7% (most recent 4-year average) compared to that for males (93.4%), but remains lower than females’ pre-crash average of 95.9%.
Breeding success in 2025 was 62%. The average nesting success remains 63% since the 2006 crash, notably lower than the average pre-crash nesting success of 74%. The number of chicks produced (47 fledglings in the last cohort) remains small, even in years with good breeding success, since numbers nesting remain low. Recruitment now draws from the (much smaller) cohorts produced since the crash, so an increase in the size of the breeding population is unlikely in the near future.
To better understand fine-scale behaviours around fishing vessels, and albatross flight characteristics around potential offshore wind farms, GPS tracking devices were deployed on 43 adult Antipodean wandering albatross Jan–Feb 2026.
There is so far no evidence of the sustained improvement in Antipodean wandering albatross demography required for the population to recover, with tentative improvements recorded here merely slowing the decline. Recommendations include ongoing mark-recapture monitoring of demographic and population-size trends, and research into causes of declines. More-targeted ongoing engagement with fishers is needed to achieve better bycatch mitigation in line with ACAP best practice.
White-chinned petrel. A mark-recapture study to estimate vital rates, survival in particular, was established in the 2022–23 season. Substantial effort to grow the mark-recapture study this year means there are now 484 banded white-chinned petrels in 302 marked burrows in the two study areas. Eleven white-chinned petrels carried very-high-resolution devices for up to 25 days, providing data suitable for detailed analysis of behaviours around fishing vessels.
For accurate, precise white-chinned petrel survival estimates we recommend at least two more years of recaptures at existing marked burrows, to build on the three years of resighting data obtained to date. To monitor population size over time, we recommend establishing six 25m x 25m blocks to record occupied burrow numbers annually.
Finally, we estimate the size of the mixed colony of white-capped and black-browed albatrosses on Bollons Island.
Publication information
Rexer-Huber, K., Darby, J., Walker, K., Elliott, G. 2026. Antipodean wandering albatrosses and white-chinned petrels 2026. Conservation Services Programme, Department of Conservation, Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand. 28 p.