Light-mantled Sooty Albatross

Toroa pango is a slender dark albatross with a silvery-grey mantle, a white eye crescent and a pale-blue groove along the lower bill. Pairs perform synchronised gliding displays over breeding cliffs. The long pointed wings, wedge-shaped tail, grey mantle and blue bill stripe distinguish it from the uniformly darker sooty albatross, whose bill stripe is cream or yellow.

New Zealand colonies occur on the Antipodes, Auckland and Campbell islands. Birds range from about 40° south to the Antarctic ice edge and are uncommon around mainland shelf waters. They take squid, fish and crustaceans and are less inclined than many albatrosses to follow vessels. A pair raises one chick every two years on a cliff-ledge nest.

Light-mantled sooty albatross is Threatened — Nationally Vulnerable (NZ Threat Classification). Longline mortality on the high seas is the principal documented threat. Subantarctic expedition voyages around the Auckland and Campbell islands give the best chance; mainland sightings usually require offshore pelagic trips.