Tristan Albatross — Australian Bird Identification Guide

Bird guideTristan Albatross

Among the major experts, BirdLife International has split this species, Diomedea refers to Diomedes , whose companions turned to birds.

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⚠️Endangered

At a glance

FamilyAlbatrosses

SizeGiant

RarityRare

HabitatPelagic; breeds on Gough and Inaccessible Islands and ranges extensively across the South Atlantic.

Sounds

Sound sample

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Recorded by Chris Taylor

Range map

Occurrence window

3visible hotspots

6visible records

0states

Low confidenceMediumHigh confidence

Aggregated occurance data is sourced from 14 different actively-updating datasets including eBird Australia, iNaturalist Australia, BirdLife Australia, and multiple state-based bird surveys through Atlas of Living Australia.

Species notes

Overview

Plumage highly variable, starting chocolate-brown with a white face and gradually becoming whiter over many years. Younger birds separated from Southern Royal Albatross by darker tail, brown markings on head and back, and lack of black “lips” on cutting edge of bill. Older birds more difficult to separate; focus on more coarsely marked upperwings, often with conspicuous white patch in center of wing, and lack of black “lips”. Often shows orange stain on cheek, never shown by Southern Royal. Identification from other Wandering-type Albatross, especially Snowy, extremely difficult. Tristan usually occurs further north, but significant overlap.

Gallery

Commonly confused with

Snowy AlbatrossDiomedea exulansYounger birds separated from Southern Royal Albatross by darker tail, brown markings on head and back, and lack of black “lips” on cutting edge of bill. Older birds more difficult to separate; focus on more coarsely marked upperwings, often with conspicuous white patch in center of wing, and lack of black “lips”. Often shows orange stain on cheek, never shown by Southern Royal. Identification from other Wandering-type Albatross, especially “Gibson’s” Antipodean and Tristan, extremely difficult and often presumed by range. Adult male Snowy is the whitest of any Wandering, but intermediate ages often best left unidentified.→Gray-headed AlbatrossThalassarche chrysostomaAdult has a gray head, thick black underwing margins like much commoner Black-browed Albatross. Immatures look similar to Black-browed overall, but told by black bill that soon develops yellow along top, and often with variable gray hood. Yellow bill edges narrower than the more lightly built Buller’s Albatross, which occurs to the north but is often mistaken for Gray-headed.→Black-browed AlbatrossThalassarche melanophrisLike other albatrosses, often scavenges at fishing boats. All plumages white-headed, often obvious at long distance (black brow only visible at close range). Adult has orange-yellow bill, brighter at the tip and thick black irregular underwing margins; 1st-year has dusky bill with black tip and solidly blackish underwings; mostly like adult in 3 years.→