• 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.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	A4bde	A4bde; D2

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2018	Endangered	A4bde
2017	Endangered	A4bde
2016	Vulnerable	D2
2012	Vulnerable	D2
2010	Vulnerable	D2
2008	Vulnerable	D2
2007	Vulnerable
2005	Vulnerable
2004	Vulnerable
2003	Vulnerable
2000	Vulnerable
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

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)	47,000,000 km2	medium
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	37,500,000 km2	medium
Area of Occupancy (breeding/resident)	670 km2	medium
Number of locations	3	-
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	50000 mature individuals	medium	estimated	2016
Population trend	decreasing	medium	estimated	1917-2010
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	50-79%	-	-	-
Generation length	27.4 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	3	-	-	-

Population justification: G. Elliot and K. Walker (in litt. 2017) roughly equated the global population size to be 50,000 mature individuals in 2016, based on an approximate annual breeding population of 9,050 breeding pairs, with the vast majority of individuals breeding on Adams and Antipodes Islands. However, since 2004 there has been a dramatic decrease in the population size and number of nests found on these two islands (see Elliott and Walker 2014, Elliott et al. 2016), and so the population size is likely smaller than this now.

Trend justification: Although both main populations had been stable or increasing in the 10 years up until 2004 (Elliott and Walker 2014, Elliott et al. 2016), both have subsequently declined dramatically. In 2016, the Auckland Island population had declined by 40% and the Antipodes Island population by about 60% from their peaks in 2004 (K. Walker and G. Elliott in litt. 2017). The most recent mark-recapture studies indicate a decline of 2.1% per annum in both males and females on the Auckland Islands over the last 10 years (Elliott et al. 2016) and 8.6% and 4.9% per annum for females and males respectively on Antipodes Island over the last 7 years (G. Elliott and K. Walker, unpubl. data). Recent surveys of Antipodes and Adams Islands (Elliott and Walker 2014, Elliott et al. 2016) combined with unpublished data suggest that declines may be 97.6% over 3 generations (82 years) (K. Walker and G. Elliott in litt. 2016). Modelling exercises have also predicted very large declines. Combining the rate of decline for Antipodes (Edwards et al. 2016 per K. Walker and G. Elliott in litt. 2016) and Adams (Francis et al. 2015 per K. Walker and G. Elliott in litt. 2016) give an annual decline of 5.7% per year, equating to a 99% decline over 3 generations. However, since the data appear to show that the population was stable or increasing prior to 2004, recent declines may be related to a population cycle rather than a true decline. There are plausible threats to explain population declines, so it is suspected that declines may continue at least some way into the future. Taking approximate numbers of breeding birds from the figures in Elliott and Walker (2014) and Elliott et al. (2016), and restricting the number of mature, breeding individuals to the number of females x2 (to take into account the species's sex imbalance), the estimated reduction roughly equates to 52% between 2004 and 2014. If all adults were included, the decline would equate to roughly 44%, but given that threats may continue into the future it may be assumed that the population will decline sufficiently in the subsequent 72 years that the rate of decline may be >50% over a 3 generation period that encompasses the past and the future.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Antarctica	extant	uncertain
Australia	extant	native			yes
Chile	extant	native			yes
French Polynesia	extant	uncertain
High Seas	extant	native			yes
New Zealand	extant	native		yes
Norfolk Island (to Australia)	extant	native			yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
High Seas	Pacific, Southwest 10 - Marine
High Seas	Pacific, Southwest 11 - Marine
High Seas	Pacific, Southwest 13 - Marine
High Seas	Pacific, Southwest 14 - Marine
New Zealand	Adams Island
New Zealand	Antipodes (offshore)
New Zealand	Antipodes Islands
New Zealand	Auckland Islands 1 (offshore)
New Zealand	Auckland Islands 2 (near-shore)
New Zealand	Disappointment Island
New Zealand	Main Auckland Island

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Grassland	Subantarctic	major	breeding
Marine Neritic	Pelagic	major	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Pelagic	major	breeding
Marine Oceanic	Epipelagic (0-200m)	major	non-breeding
Marine Oceanic	Epipelagic (0-200m)	major	breeding
Shrubland	Subantarctic	major	breeding
Altitude		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%)		Rapid Declines		Medium Impact: 7
		Stresses Species mortality
Climate change & severe weather	Habitat shifting & alteration	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Whole (>90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 7
		Stresses Indirect ecosystem effects, Ecosystem degradation
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Felis catus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Sus domesticus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Antipodean Albatross Diomedea antipodensis. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/antipodean-albatross-diomedea-antipodensis on 04/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 04/12/2024.