• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic source(s)
Brooke, M. de L. 2004. Albatrosses and Petrels Across the World. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
Robertson, C. J. R.; Nunn, G. B. 1998. Towards a new taxonomy for albatrosses. In: Robertson, G.; Gales, R. (ed.), Albatross biology and conservation, pp. 13-19. Surrey Beatty & Sons, Chipping Norton, Australia.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	D2

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2018	Vulnerable	D2
2016	Vulnerable	D2
2012	Vulnerable	D2
2010	Vulnerable	D2
2008	Vulnerable	D2
2006	Vulnerable
2005	Vulnerable
2004	Vulnerable
2003	Vulnerable
2000	Vulnerable
1994	Endangered
1988	Threatened

Migratory status	full migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence breeding/resident (km2)	53,700,000	medium
Extent of Occurrence non-breeding (km2)	47,300,000	medium
Extent of Occurrence breeding/resident (km2)	9	medium
Number of locations	2	-
Severely Fragmented		-

	Value	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
No. of mature individuals	1734	medium	estimated	2014
Population trend	increasing	good	estimated	-
Decline (3 years/1 generation past)		-	-	-
Decline (5 years/1 generation past)		-	-	-
Decline (10 years/1 generation past)		-	-	-
Decline (10 years/3 generation future)		-	-	-
Decline (10 years/3 generation past and future)	80-100	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	2	-	-	-
Percentage in largest subpopulation		-	-	-
Generation length (yrs)	24.1	-	-	-

Population justification:

At the end of the 2013-2014 breeding season, the global population was estimated to be 4,200 individuals, with 3,540 birds on Torishima, 650 birds on the two islands in the East China Sea and 10 birds on Ogasawara Islands. Eda et al. (2012) showed that two populations of Phoebastria albatrus existed about 1,000 years ago and suggested that descendants of each population have segregated breeding colonies on Torishima and on the two islands in the East China Sea. The sequence divergence between the two clades is greater than between other Diomedeidae sister species (Eda and Higuchi 2012). The trend of assortative mating was indicated among birds from the Torishima and the two islands in the East China Sea (Eda et al. 2016).

Trend justification: In 1954, 25 birds (including at least six pairs) were present on Torishima. Given that there are now 609 breeding pairs on Torishima (H. Hasegawa in litt. 2014), the species has undergone an enormous increase since its rediscovery and the onset of conservation efforts.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding	Non-breeding	Passage
Canada	extant	native		yes	yes
China (mainland)	extant	native
Japan	extant	native	yes	yes
Mexico	extant	native
Northern Mariana Islands (to USA)	extant	uncertain
Philippines	extant	uncertain
Russia	extant	native		yes	yes
Russia (Asian)	extant	native		yes	yes
South Korea	extant	native
Taiwan, China	extant	native		yes	yes
United States Minor Outlying Islands (to USA)	extant	native		yes	yes
USA	extant	native		yes	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Japan	Futagojima islets 1 - Marine
Japan	Futagojima islets 2 - Marine
Japan	Pacific, Northwest 2 - Marine
Japan	Senkaku islands
Japan	Senkaku islands - Marine
Japan	Torishima island
Japan	Torishima island - Marine
Russia (Asian)	Commander Islands
Russia (Asian)	Lesser Kuril Ridge and Kunashir Island
Russia (Asian)	Navarin Canyon
Russia (Asian)	Pacific, Northwest 4 - Marine

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	Sea Cliffs and Rocky Offshore Islands	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Pelagic	major	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Pelagic	major	breeding
Marine Oceanic	Abyssopelagic (4000-6000m)	major	non-breeding
Marine Oceanic	Bathypelagic (1000-4000m)	major	non-breeding
Marine Oceanic	Epipelagic (0-200m)	major	non-breeding
Marine Oceanic	Epipelagic (0-200m)	major	breeding
Altitude	0 - 150 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Biological resource use	Fishing & harvesting aquatic resources - Unintentional effects: (large scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Species mortality
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Past, Unlikely to Return		Majority (50-90%)		Very Rapid Declines		Past Impact
		Stresses Species mortality
Geological events	Volcanoes	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Majority (50-90%)		Very Rapid Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

Purpose	Primary form used	Life stage used	Source	Scale	Level	Timing
Food - human	-	-			non-trivial	recent
Handicrafts, jewellery, etc.	-	-		international	non-trivial	recent

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2023) Species factsheet: Phoebastria albatrus. Downloaded from http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/short-tailed-albatross-phoebastria-albatrus on 09/06/2023. Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2023) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from http://datazone.birdlife.org on 09/06/2023.