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Shy Albatross

Thalassarche cautaOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Albatross (Diomedeidae)
Shy Albatross Head Illustration

Head

  • Bill Shape: Hooked Seabird
  • Eye color:
  • Head Pattern: Eyeline, Plain
  • Crown color: White
  • Forehead color: White
  • Nape Color: White
  • Throat color: White
  • Cere color:
Splitbar

Recommended Products:

National Geographic Birds of North America Field Guide
This is the ultimate birder's field guide. Now in its fourth edition, this sturdy, portable, and easy-to-use book offers the most complete information available on every bird species known to North America. This revised edition features 250 completely updated range maps, new plumage and species classification information, specially commissioned full-color illustrations, and a superb new index that allows birders in the field to quickly identify a species. 800 illustrations, 630 maps, softcover, 480 pages
Golden Field Guide Birds of North America
This classic field guide is complete and compact enough to fit inside any backpack or picnic basket. Spot the silhouette of a Northern Goshawk in flight. Identify the raucous call of the Red-winged Blackbird. Discover the secret of picking out a Chipping Sparrow from its look-alike cousins. It's simple with this classic field guide, a treasured favorite among amateur bird lovers and exacting professionals. Recognized as the authority on bird identification, this invaluable resource provides all of North America in one volume. Features over 800 species and 600 range maps with Arthur Singer's famous illustrations featuring male, female, and juvenile plumage. Also includes: sonograms that picture sound for easy song recognition, migration routes, feeding habits, characteristic flight patterns, American ornithologists' classifications, convenient check boxes to record birds you have identified, and color tabs for quick references. Revised and Updated. Hardcover, 359 pages
Shy Albatross Body Illustration

Body

  • Length Range: 89-102 cm (35-40 in)
  • Weight: 4081 g (144 oz)
  • Size: Size 5. Very Large (32 - 72 in)
  • Color: White, Gray
  • Underparts: White
  • Upperparts: Dark gray-brown
  • Back Pattern: Solid
  • Belly Pattern: Solid
  • Breast Pattern: Solid
Shy Albatross Flight Illustration

Flight

  • Flight Pattern: Soars on strong wings.
  • Wingspan Range: 211-257 cm (83-101 in)
  • Wing Shape: Pointed-Wings, Very-Long-Wings
  • Tail Shape: Squared Tail
  • Tail Pattern: Solid
  • Upper Tail: Dark gray-brown
  • Under Tail: White
  • Leg color: Gray
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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Family Albatross (Diomedeidae)_blue
Species Thalassarche cauta
Length35 - 40 Inches
Wingspan87 Inches

Shy Albatross

Shy Albatross: Large seabird with white body and gray back. The bill is gray with a yellow tip and base. Underwing is white with diagnostic narrow black margin. Tail is gray. Legs and feet are pink. Soaring flight on stiff, slightly drooped wings. Often interuppted with several slow deep wing beats.

● Song: Generally silent

● Foraging & Feeding: Shy Albatross: Feeds on fish, cephalopods, crustaceans, and tunicates caught at the water surface; follows fishing vessels in flocks to feed on garbage thrown overboard.

● Breeding & nesting: Shy Albatross: One white egg with red brown flecks is laid on a sturdy column of packed earth and vegetation built on a rocky terrace or broad ledge, usually on a slope overlooking the sea. Incubation ranges from 62 to 66 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Shy Albatross: Laysan Albatross has darker back, shorter bill, and less white on rump.

Flight Pattern

Soars on strong wings.
Shy Albatross Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Shy Albatross: Breeds on only three islands, south of Tasmania, including Albatross Island, Mewstone, and Pedra Branca. Nests on rocks and feeds in waters over the continental shelf, including in harbors and bays.
BreedingMonogamous, Colonial
PopulationUncommon to common
MigrationMigratory
Weight144 Ounces