It’s the first time one was spotted in the U.S. 😮
A few days ago, a bird-watching group from Northern California set out expecting a typical outing on the water. Midway through their trip, however, a member of the Redwood Region Ornithological Society noticed something extraordinary — a bird unlike any they had ever encountered before.
“At first, the bird appeared far behind the boat,” wrote Glen Tepke, one of the participants, on eBird. “Its large, bright white head immediately stood out. As it drew nearer, we could see its dark body and wings, and finally, its striking yellow bill.”
As the mysterious bird approached, the group realized it had an enormous wingspan — clearly not a species native to California. The birders quickly began trying to identify it.
Fortunately, among them was Lisa Hug, a naturalist renowned for her bird identification skills. After a brief observation, she recognized it as a young waved albatross — a critically rare species found only in the Galápagos Islands, thousands of miles away off Ecuador’s coast.
The group was stunned. No waved albatross had ever been recorded in the United States before. Somehow, this one had traveled more than 3,000 miles north to reach California.
According to Rare Birds NA on Instagram, “This marks the first sighting of the species north of Costa Rica.”
Named for the wave-like designs on their feathers, waved albatrosses are the largest birds native to the Galápagos, boasting wingspans of up to eight feet — significantly larger than the average five-foot wingspan of a seagull.
Sadly, the species is listed as critically endangered, threatened by illegal longline fishing, pollution, and the growing effects of climate change.
As for why this young albatross strayed so far from its native habitat, experts can only speculate. It might have been influenced by changing climate patterns — or perhaps it was simply exploring, as young albatrosses are known to wander great distances without any apparent reason.
“Albatrosses have a long history of long-distance wanderings,” Rare Birds NA explained.
Regardless of how it ended up there, the encounter was an unforgettable moment for the Redwood Region Ornithological Society.
“Everyone was cheering and jumping up and down on the boat,” Hug told The Press Democrat.