Albatrosses and other seabirds are generally highly philopatric, returning to natal colonies when they achieve breeding age. This is not universal, however, and cases of extraordinary vagrancy are rare. The Tristan Albatross ( Diomedea dabbenena ) breeds on Gough Island in the South Atlantic Ocean, with a small population on Inaccessible Island, Tristan da Cunha, ca 380 km away. In 2015, we observed an adult male albatross in Gonydale, Gough Island, which had been ringed on Ile de la Possession, Crozet Islands in 2009 when it was assumed to be an immature Wandering Albatross ( D. exulans ). We sequenced 1109 bp of the cytochrome b mitochondrial gene from this bird, and confirmed it to be a Tristan Albatross, meaning its presence on Crozet 6 years previous, and nearly 5000 km away, was a case of prospecting behaviour in a heterospecific colony. Given the challenges in identifying immature Diomedea albatrosses, such dispersal events may be more common than thought previously.

中文翻译：

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克罗泽群岛陆地上的幼年特里斯坦信天翁 (Diomedea dabbenena)

信天翁和其他海鸟通常是高度亲民的，当它们达到繁殖年龄时就会返回出生地。然而，这并不普遍，特别流浪的情况很少见。特里斯坦信天翁（Diomedea dabbenena）在南大西洋的高夫岛上繁殖，在距离约380公里的特里斯坦达库尼亚人迹罕至岛（Inaccessible Island）上有少量种群。2015 年，我们在高夫岛的 Gonydale 观察到了一只成年雄性信天翁，它于 2009 年在克罗泽群岛的 Ile de la Possession 上被认为是一只未成熟的流浪信天翁 ( D. exulans )。我们对这只鸟的细胞色素 b 线粒体基因进行了 1109 bp 的测序，并确认它是特里斯坦信天翁，这意味着它 6 年前出现在克罗泽特，距离近 5000 公里，是一个异种特定群体的勘探行为。