Thalassarche salvini
Silhouette: Edwin Price · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
Salvin's albatross (Thalassarche salvini) or Salvin's mollymawk, is a large seabird that breeds mainly on the Bounty Islands of New Zealand, with scant amounts on islands across the Southern Ocean. A medium-sized mollymawk, it was long considered to be a subspecies of the shy albatross.
Mollymawks are a type of albatross that belong to the family Diomedeidae in the order Procellariiformes, along with shearwaters, fulmars, storm petrels, and diving petrels. They share certain identifying features. First, they have nasal passages that attach to the upper bill called naricorns. Although the nostrils on the albatross are on the sides of the bill, unlike other tubenosed seabirds. The bills of Procellariiformes are also unique in that they are split into between seven and nine horny plates. They produce a stomach oil made up of wax esters and triglycerides that is stored in the proventriculus. This is used against predators as well as an energy rich food source for chicks and for the adults during their long flights. Finally, they have a salt gland that is situated above the nasal passage and helps desalinate their bodies, due to the high amount of ocean water that they imbibe... Wikipedia →
Call0:12
New Zealand · 2016
© Dan Lane · XC345386 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rakiura National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | |
| 2 | Fiordland National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Salvin's Albatross sighting in Fiordland National Park on a given day, based on 15 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 82nd most-seen of the 94 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Salvin's Albatross in Fiordland National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Salvin's Albatross sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Salvin's Albatross sightings, Fiordland National Park ranks 2nd at under 5%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Rakiura National Park (New Zealand, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Salvin's Albatross is recorded against all the birds logged in Fiordland National Park (15 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
