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3

Shy Albatross (Thalassarche cauta) Alternate name(s): "White-capped Albatross", "Mollymawk" Size: 0.9-1.0 m; wing span 2.1-2.6 m Weight: 3.3-4.9 kg

Australia: Family Group 3 Family Group 3 table Southern Fulmar Antarctic Petrel Cape Petrel Mottled Petrel Black-winged Petrel Providence Petrel Kermadec Petrel Soft-plumaged Petrel Tahiti Petrel Buller's Shearwater Wedge-tailed Shearwater Flesh-footed Shearwater Sooty Shearwater Short-tailed Shearwater Fluttering Shearwater Hutton's Shearwater Little Shearwater Antarctic Prion Slender-billed Prion Fairy Prion Southern Giant-Petrel Northern Giant-Petrel Light-mantled Albatross Wandering Albatross Black-browed Albatross Campbell Albatross Buller's Albatross Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross Shy Albatross Wilson's Storm-Petrel New Zealand Storm-Petrel White-faced Storm-Petrel Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names Habitat pages Key plants Birds home page

Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Shy Albatrosses are very big seabirds with an almost all-white plumage. Adult birds have a very narrow black fringe all around the wings. The bill is greyish-yellow, with a dark grey or yellow tip, the eyes are black. (Parts of the) head and neck are light-grey; the tail is grey. Juvenile birds have all dark-grey bodies and upperwings, with a white face. In immature birds body and upperwings gradually moult into the white adult plumage, in various stages of mottled black-and-white.

Taxonomy, classification See Shy Albatross at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed based on sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Shy Albatross is available HERE . The range of the Shy Albatross is circumpolar, encompassing all southern oceans. There are three races, nominate race "cauta", race "salvini" and race "eremita". Of the three races of Shy Albatrosses, "salvini" and "eremita" reach coastal waters off the Australian continent only in the South-east, in a coastal range from about Sydney, NSW, to Adelaide, SA. Race "cauta" is found over a much wider coastal range, all the way from the NSW/QLD border in the East, around the South coast of Australia (including the coast of Tasmania), to about Dirk Hartog Island, WA. On Australian territory, Shy Albatrosses breed on Albatross Island, Pedra Branca and Mewstone. Shy Albatrosses are pelagic birds that spend most of their time out on the open ocean and in coastal waters. They breed on offshore islands.

Sightings Click here for sighting information B. Hensen reports spotting a Shy Albatross off the coast of NSW near Wattamolla, Royal NP, NSW, in June 2013. We have seen a Shy Albatros on a pelagic to the edge of the continental shelf, 22 nautical miles (40 km) from Terrigal, NSW, in July 2013.

Photos

Race "cauta"

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Frontal view of an immature Shy Albatross in flight
[22 NM (40 km) ESE of Terrigal, NSW, July 2013]

Lateral view of an immature Shy Albatross in flight; distinguishing features are e.g. the grey bill with black tip, the near-white head and the narrow black underwing edge
[22 NM (40 km) ESE of Terrigal, NSW, July 2013]

The same immature Shy Albatross as shown above; note how, in different light, the bird looks a lot darker, especially its underwings
[22 NM (40 km) ESE of Terrigal, NSW, July 2013]

The same immature Shy Albatross as shown above; here the typical very long and comparatively narrow shape of an Alabtross's wing can be seen clearly; note also the light reflection on the leading edge, which is in fact black
[22 NM (40 km) ESE of Terrigal, NSW, July 2013]

Distant view of a Shy Albatross, right, followed by a Black-browed Albatross, left (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Near Wattamolla, Royal NP, NSW, June 2013]

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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