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Salvin's Albatross | Thalassarche salvini
Salvins albatros | Albatros de Salvin | Albatroz-de-salvin
Salvin's Albatross is one of the most numerous albatrosses in the Humboldt Current off Peru. It breeds on a few bare, rocky islets off New Zealand, but spends much of the year in the cold, productive waters off the west coast of South America. With Chatham Albatross and related species it belongs to the large, grey-headed Thalassarche albatrosses with a thumb mark on the underwing.
Voice
Usually silent at sea; croaking and cackling sounds when competing for food.
Recording: Dan Lane — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
90 cm, a large Thalassarche albatross. The head and neck are grey, with a paler, silvery forehead and a dark area around the eye. The back, upperwing and tail are dark greyish brown, the rump and underparts white. The bill is pale grey-green, with a pale yellow upper ridge and a dark spot at the tip of the lower mandible. The underwing is white with narrow black margins and a small black thumb mark at the base of the leading edge. Juveniles have a greyer head and a grey bill with a dark tip.
Confusion species
Chatham Albatross Thalassarche eremita has a darker, uniformly grey head without a pale forehead and a yellow bill. Buller's Albatross Thalassarche bulleri is smaller, with a black-and-yellow bill and a broader black leading edge to the underwing. Black-browed Albatross Thalassarche melanophris has a white head, an orange-yellow bill and broad dark underwing margins.
Habitat
Open ocean, especially over the continental shelf and shelf edge in the cold Humboldt Current. It eats fish, squid and crustaceans, and follows fishing vessels. Breeds in dense colonies on bare, rocky islands; the nest is a cone of mud, guano and plant debris.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of the Andes and the west coast.
Range and movements
In the guide area present year-round at sea off Peru, with the largest numbers in the austral winter; north to off Ecuador. Absent from Bolivia and not regular around Galápagos. Outside the guide area it breeds mainly on the Bounty and Snares Islands off New Zealand, and in small numbers on the Crozet Islands in the Indian Ocean; outside the breeding season also off the coast of Chile.
- Resident
- Summer visitor (c. Apr–Sep)
- Winter visitor (c. Oct–Mar)
- Passage (Mar–Apr, Oct–Nov)
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
On pelagic trips from Callao or Pucusana it is often the most numerous albatross behind the boat, especially when fish offal is put out.
Conservation status
Vulnerable. The species breeds on very few islands, and birds die as bycatch in longline and trawl fisheries, including off the coast of South America.
Scientific name
Thalassarche salvini | (Rothschild, 1893)
Rothschild described the species in 1893 as Thalassogeron salvini; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Thalassarche was introduced in 1853 by Reichenbach. The genus name comes from Greek thalassa, 'sea', and arkhē, 'rule', so 'ruler of the sea'. The species name honours Osbert Salvin (1835–1898), a British naturalist and co-author of Biologia Centrali-Americana. The specimen the first description was based on came from New Zealand.