From Opus

Alternative names: Shy Mollymawk; White-capped Albatross

Photo by jonlowes
At sea off The Cape, South Africa, October 2009

Thalassarche cauta

[edit] Identification

Length 99cm. Wingspan 198-256cm.
White-capped Adult: Brownish-black on back, tail and upperwings, palest on mantle. Rump, neck, and underparts white. Head has distinctly capped appearance with white forehead and dark eyebrow above grey cheeks. Underwing white with very narrow dark margins and dark 'thumbmark' at base of leading edge. Iris dark brown, bill yellowish-grey with brighter yellow tip and legs pinkish with bluish joints. Immature: as adult but has dull grey, black-tipped bill and greyer head and hindneck. At all ages dark 'thumbmark' indicates a member of the cauta group.

Photo by Derekh42
Photographed in the Southern Ocean, December 2003

[edit] Distribution

The Tasmanian Shy/White-capped Albatross (T. c. cauta) breeds on Albatross Rock in Bass Strait and the Mewstone and Pedra Branca off south Tasmania. Disperses to seas off southern Australia and present all year off Tasmania, Victoria and southern New South Wales, less commmonly west to Fremantle and north to northern Queensland.

The Auckland White-capped Albatross (T. c. steadi) breeds only on the Auckland and Antipodes islands of New Zealand. Many of these subspecies disperse further than the Tasmanian Shy Albatross and can occur throughout the Southern Oceans north to about 25 degrees south occurring on both coasts of South America and off South Africa.

Has occurred as vagrant on the northern hemisphere.

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] Diomedea vs. Thalassarche

Genera Phoebastria and Thalassarche formerly placed in the Diomedea, but now considered by virtually all authorities (Clements, Howard & Moore, AOU, BOU, SACC) to be separate genera in light of Nunn et al. (1996) and Penhallurick & Wink (2004).

White-capped Albatross
Photo by Fritz73
35 miles SE of Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

[edit] Subspecies^[1]

• T. c. cauta (White-capped):

• Breeds Tasmania and adjacent islands

• T. c. steadi:

• Breeds Auckland Islands

Salvin's Albatross and Chatham Albatross have long been considered subspecies of this species.

[edit] Habitat

Present at breeding sites April-August, otherwise at sea and often follows ships.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Breeding

Begins late September-early October. Nest is a large bowl made of mud, excreta, vegetable matter and feathers. Single egg, white marked with red-brown at larger end (106 x 67mm). Incubated by both parents for about 55-60 days and young fed by both parents. Fledges after 5 months.

[edit] Diet

Squid and fish, sometimes refuse from ships.

[edit] Vocalisation

Cackling and bill-clattering on breeding grounds.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Pizzey, G. & Knight, F. 1997. Birds of Australia (Collins Field Guide). HarperCollins Publishers, London. ISBN 0-00-220132-1
3. Alvaro Jaramillo. 2003. Birds of Chile. Princeton Field Guides. ISBN 0-691-11740-3

• List of references

[edit] External Links