Thalassarche chrysostoma
Silhouette: Alexandre Vong · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
The grey-headed albatross (Thalassarche chrysostoma) also known as the gray-headed mollymawk, is a large seabird from the albatross family. It has a circumpolar distribution, nesting on isolated islands in the Southern Ocean and feeding at high latitudes, further south than any of the other mollymawks. Its name derives from its ashy-gray head, throat and upper neck.
Mollymawks are a type of albatross that belong to the family Diomedeidae from 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 of an albatross are on the sides of the bill. The bills of Procellariiformes are also unique in that they are split into between seven and nine horny plates. Finally, 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. They also have a salt gland situated above the nasal passage that helps desalinate their bodies, to compensate...
Call1:04
Chile · 2001
© Santiago Imberti · XC1078862 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands | 🇬🇸 South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands | |
| 2 | Antarctic Peninsula & South Shetland Islands | 🇦🇶 Antarctica | |
| 3 | Falkland Islands | 🇫🇰 Falkland Islands |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Gray-headed Albatross sighting in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands on a given day, based on 198 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 20th most-seen of the 37 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and October
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Gray-headed Albatross in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands on a given day, against about 10% in June and September, the lowest months. July and August have too few records to rate.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Gray-headed 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.
Yes
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Gray-headed Albatross sightings, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands has the highest daily chance: about 30%. Next come Antarctic Peninsula & South Shetland Islands (Antarctica, about 10%) and Falkland Islands (Falkland Islands, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Gray-headed Albatross is recorded against all the birds logged in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (198 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.
