Southern Royal Albatross is very similar in size to the Wandering Albatross, with the largest individuals having a wingspan of 3.5m and weighing over 10kg.
The black border to the cutting edge of the upper mandible and wide, upward-pointing nostrils distinguishes Royal Albatrosses from the members of the Wandering Albatross complex.
Immature birds have almost all dark upperwings and gain more and more white with age. The bird below is probably about 3-4 years old as it has lost all the brown body feathers of the juvenile plumages but still only has very limited white on the upperwing.
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