Records of leucism in albatrosses on Midway Atoll, Marion Island and in the South Atlantic

Leucistic Laysan Albatross chick on Midway Atoll, April 2025

A leucistic Laysan Albatross Phoebastria immutabilis chick was recently photographed on Midway Atoll.   Author and photographer Joe Owen writes:

“While most albatross chicks are typically grey and black, leucism gives this one its striking, lighter plumage.  This genetic condition reduces pigment, resulting in the pale feathers that make this chick truly unique.  It is possible to tell the difference between leucistic and albinism; in this case, by the normal coloration T melof the chick's eye.”

The leucistic chick next to a normally-coloured one, photographs by USFWS volunteer Joe Owen/Courtesy Friends of Midway Atoll

Read about a leucistic Grey-Headed Albatross Thalassarche chrysostoma chick here, and a definition of leucism.  Leucism has also been recorded in a Black-browed Albatross T. melanophris at sea in the South Atlantic.

Leucistic Grey-headed Albatross chick on Marion Island, March 2018, photographs by Chris Jones, from Risi et al. (2019)

Leucistic Black-browed Albatross in the South Atlantic, photograph by Sandro de Mello Terroso, from Mancini et al. (2010).

References:

Mancini, P.L., Jiménez, S., Neves, T. & Bugoni, L. 2010.  Records of leucism in albatrosses and petrels (Procellariiformes) in the South Atlantic Ocean.  Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia 18: 245-248.

Risi, M.M., Jones, C.W., Schoombie, S. & Ryan, P.G. 2019.  Plumage and bill abnormalities in albatross chicks on Marion Island.  Polar Biology 42  1615–1620,.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 09 May 2025