| Summary: | Among the species of Diomedea albatrosses, diverse foraging strategies during breeding have been described, indicating species differences in foraging ecology and behaviour. Foraging strategies of Southern Royal Albatrosses, Diomedea epomophora (SRA) breeding on Campbell Island were studied in January – early February 1999 during the latter half of incubation. Movements and activity of ten birds were monitored using satellite transmitters and wet-dry activity recorders. Three birds from a pilot tracking study in February 1997 were also included in some analyses. Foraging strategies, zones used, factors influencing the duration of foraging trips, and the influence of wind conditions were investigated. Foraging activity took place at sites with bathymetric characteristics associated with high productivity: outer shelf and shelf-break zones, with a concentration of activity on a shelf contour south of the Snares Islands. This is in contrast to Wandering (D. exulans) and Gibson’s (D. gibsoni) albatrosses, typically deep oceanic foragers, but is similar to Northern Royal Albatross (D. sanfordi). The maximum distance of foraging trips from the colony was 1250 kilometres (mean 584 +351(SD)). This was closer than for incubating Wandering and Gibson’s Albatrosses but more distant than for Northern Royal Albatross from the Otago Peninsula. The mean duration of 77 foraging trips from 52 nests was 10.11 days for females and 8.76 for males (ns). Foraging trips became shorter as incubation progressed. Foraging trips were shorter, but not significantly so, when the median wind speed throughout the foraging trip was higher. No significant relationship was found between bird mass and duration of foraging trips. The mean cumulative distance flown by the ten birds tracked in 1999 was 4262 km + 1318 (SD). Eight of the ten SRA employed a ‘commute, forage, commute’ foraging strategy, and the other two alternated short bouts of commuting and foraging. Commuting phases were characterised by rapid directional flight with a straight-line ...
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