Thalassarche cauta
Silhouette: PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
The shy albatross (Thalassarche cauta), also known as the shy mollymawk, is a medium-sized albatross that breeds on three remote islands off the coast of Tasmania, Australia, in the southern Indian Ocean. Its lifespan is about 60 years, and it has been seen as far afield as South Africa and the Pacific coast of the United States. As of June 2020, the species is listed as "Endangered" in Australia; there are thought to be 15,000 pairs of shy albatross left. It is Australia's only endemic albatross.
Some authorities call this species the white-capped albatross, but that name is more commonly applied to Thalassarche cauta steadi. This mollymawk was once considered to be the same species as the Salvin's albatross, Thalassarche salvini, and the Chatham albatross, Thalassarche eremita, but they were split around 2004. In 1998, Robertson and Nunn suggested a four-way split including the white-capped albatross, Thalassarche steadi. The three-way split was accepted by Brooke in 2004, the ACAP in 2006, SACC in 2008, and BirdLife International by 2000. James Clements was the last major holdout on the three-way split but later accepted it. The fourth split, steadi, was only accepted... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rakiura National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | |
| 2 | Freycinet National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Great Otway National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Fiordland National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | |
| 5 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 6 | Wilsons Promontory National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 7 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 8 | Royal National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sydney | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wellington Zoo | 🇳🇿 New Zealand |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Shy Mollymawk sighting in Sydney on a given day, based on 55 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 172nd most-seen of the 243 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Shy Mollymawk in Sydney on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Shy Mollymawk sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Sydney, in our data
Sydney is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Shy Mollymawk sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Shy Mollymawk is recorded against all the birds logged in Sydney (55 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
