Salvin's Albatross

Thalassarche salvini - Albatros de Salvin

Systematics

Order
:
Procellariiformes
Family
:
Diomédéidés
Genus
:
Thalassarche
Species
:
salvini

Descriptor

Rothschild, 1893

Biometrics

Size
: 90 cm
Wingspan
: 250 cm.
Weight
:

Geographic range

Distribution

Identification

Sometimes still considered as a subspecies of the White-capped Albatross (Thalassarche cauta), the Salvin's Albatross is a species of medium-sized albatross, much smaller than the Wandering and the Royal Albatross. This bird is distinctive with its dark-colored upper wings and mantle, and white underside except for the black leading and trailing edges, as well as for the wingtip and rectrices. The head is grey with a darker mark in front of the eye. The beak is grey with a black spot at the end, especially on the lower mandible. Its head and beak features severely differentiate it from other grey-headed Albatross. The younger birds look quite similar to the adults. In younger flying birds, it is sometimes hard to differentiate this species from the Chatham Albatross (T. eremita).

Subspecific information monotypic species

Foreign names

Albatros de Salvin,
Albatros de Salvin,
albatroz-de-dorso-cinzento,
Salvinalbatros,
szürkehátú albatrosz,
Salvins Albatros,
Albatros di Salvin,
salvinalbatross,
Sølvhodealbatross,
albatros kapucňový,
albatros snarský,
Grårygget Albatros,
Salvinalbatros,
albatros de Salvin,
albatros szarogrzbiety,
Альбатрос Сальвина,
サルビンアホウドリ,
萨氏信天翁,
salvinalbatross,
沙文氏信天翁,

Voice song and call

play
pause

Habitat

High-seas species, regularly seen near the coasts of New Zealand, Salvin's Albatross is a majestic bird.

Behaviour character trait

Easily drawn to fishing boats, Salvin's Albatross is the most common albatross in the regions where it resides. Very unafraid of humans.

Flight

Most of its congeners, the Salvin's Albatross almost never beats its wings, using air currents to move around, mostly quite low above the water, making wide curves.

Dietfeeding habits

Salvin's Albatross mostly feeds on cephalopods and fish with some crustaceans and shells. It usually collects its food on the surface, but can dive deep.

Reproduction nesting

A large nest of mud and moss built on the ground. Only one egg usually laid in September. Incubation lasts about three and a half months and the young remain at the nest for about four months.

Geographic range

Endemic to New Zealand, Salvin's Albatross nests on a few archipelagos (the Bounty Islands, which host 99% of the total population, The Snares and Chatham Islands), and also previously nested in Crozet (France). It winters in large numbers between New Zealand and Chile, mostly in the Humbolt current, between latitude 14 to 50 degrees South. It is much less common out in the coastal waters off of South Africa and Australia.

Threats - protection

IUCN conservation status

Extinct

Threatened

Least
concern

Extinc
in the Wild

Near
threatened

Not
evaluated

EX EW CR EN VU NT LC NE

Not threatened on its predation-free breeding sites but may suffer from adverse weather conditions. It is one of the most frequently killed albatrosses by high seas fishing practices, both by trawlers and those that use lines of several kilometers. This species accounts for 15% of the albatrosses killed by New Zealand fishers. The population was estimated to be approximately 31 000 couples in 1998.