White-capped Albatrosses? - Dunedin NZ Dec 24 (1 Viewer)

From the Otago Peninsula near Dunedin I saw 3 Albatrosses floating in the water a ways out. I took photos and on quick review I thought they were all three White-capped Albatrosses. Now back home at my computer 1 of the birds seems a bit different. Most distinctive is the horn of the bill. It is lighter and on the yellowish side. also the sides of the face seem a bit less gray than the other two.

Here are 5 pictures with all the pixels captured

Pic 1: Unknown bird
Pic 2: unknown bird
Pic 3: White-capped Albatross - presumed from pic 2
Pic 4: larger picture that incorporated pic two (right bird) and pic 3 (left bird)
Pic 5: a third bird the is presumed a 2nd White-capped Albatross

Potentially the unknown bird is a Shy Albatross.

What do you think?

Thanks
Doug

Photos 1, 2 & 5 the birds all have a small dark mark on the lower mandible which I think indicates they are immature/sub-adult. It is my understanding that bill colour can be variable and that separation of cauta and steadi using yellow on the bill is difficult due to individual variation.

I'm not sure if that helps, but maybe one of the NZ/Aus guys will be able to comment.

Cheers

Roy

Thanks TringBirder.

Any other thoughts out there?

I did some further checking and there is only one record of Shy Albatross from NZ and the birds in your photos I think lack the yellow on the base of the bill. Also apparently this only works for adults so I think the bird in question isn't provable as Shy and most likely it isn't. It is possible that the small dark mark is highlighting the yellow tip making it appear brighter or it could be individual variation as I certainly noticed head variation on the birds I saw off Aramoana Mole in December last year.

Cheers

Roy

Other than range what descriptors are you using to separate Shy and White-capped?
They all fit well within the description of white-capped by Robertson.

Thanks for the responses. Must be a White-capped. I was thinking the slightly less gray top of the bill was yellow enough but it just doesn't fit.

On current knowledge, the two taxa are largely inseparable except for the extent of yellow in the bill in breeding Shy, which if extensive enough rules out White-capped. But they apparently lose this outside of breeding. I certainly wouldn't say it "must" be a White-capped, but that would significantly more likely based on location