• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Range map
• Resources

Taxonomic source(s)
AERC TAC. 2003. AERC TAC Checklist of bird taxa occurring in Western Palearctic region, 15th Draft. Available at: http://www.aerc.eu/DOCS/Bird_taxa_of_the_WP15.xls.
Christidis, L. and Boles, W.E. 2008. Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Australia.
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
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2022	Near Threatened	A3ce
2018	Near Threatened	D2
2016	Near Threatened	D2
2012	Near Threatened	D2
2010	Near Threatened	D2
2008	Near Threatened	D2
2007	Near Threatened
2004	Not Recognised
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

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

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	8,800 km2	medium
Area of Occupancy (breeding/resident)	12 km2
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	29800-33400, 31600 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2020
Population trend	stable	poor	estimated	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	20-29%	-	-	-
Generation length	20.1 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	3	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	1-89%	-	-	-

Population justification: The number of Shy Albatross pairs estimated to be breeding on Albatross Island was 5,150 ± 430 in 2018–2019, compared to 5,017 in 2008–2009. On Pedra Branca, 109 pairs were estimated to be breeding in in 2018–2019, compared to 130–170 pairs in 2008–2009 (DPIPWE 2019). On Mewstone, 9,988 ± 200 pairs bred in 2014–2015 (DPIPWE 2019), with 4,029 pre-fledging chicks estimated in 2018–2019, compared to 9,500 (7,600–12,400) in 2004–2005 (Alderman et al. 2011, DPIPWE unpublished). The population of this species is therefore estimated at 31,600 (29,800-33,400) mature individuals.

Trend justification: There is no evidence this species has declined over the past three generations (63 years; Bird et al. 2020). Numbers on Albatross Island declined from about 20,000 pairs in the late 18th century to 250–400 pairs in 1909 (Johnstone et al. 1975). Recovery started in the 1960s, and the 21-year trend for 1998–2018 was +0.74 ± 0.05% p.a. (DPIPWE 2019). On Pedra Branca, the 21-year trend in breeding pairs is negative (–5.9 ± 1.01% -p.a.). Due to interannual variability and the shorter time series of available data, the trend on Mewstone, based on pre-fledging counts, is currently uncertain, although appearing stable (DPIPWE 2019). Given the relative size of Albatross Island and Pedra Branca populations, the overall trend for the species appears to be stable. 
However, climate change effects are a suspected cause for future decline. Thomson et al. (2015) predicted a decline in the number of breeding females in the Albatross Island subpopulation of over 30% in three generations due to climate change effects, however discrepancies exist between the model’s predictions and the most recent empirical data. Thus while a future decline is suspected, there is uncertainty about when a decline may commence and consequently any rate of reduction. Breeding success of the Albatross Island population is also negatively affected by Avian pox virus (R. Woods and R. Gales in litt. 2008) and a phlebovirus carried by a tick Ixodes eudyptidis (Johnstone et al. 1975, Wang et al. 2014), while the small population breeding on Pedra Branca is being competitively excluded by Australasian Gannets Morus serrator. Overall, low breeding success on Pedra Branca and indications of decreased juvenile recruitment on Albatross Island suggest steep declines exceeding 20% are plausible in the next three generations (Garnett and Baker 2021).

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Angola	extant	uncertain
Argentina	extant	uncertain
Australia	extant	native	yes
Brazil	extant	uncertain
Chile	extant	uncertain
Falkland Islands (Malvinas)	extant	uncertain
French Southern Territories	extant	uncertain
Heard Island and McDonald Islands (to Australia)	extant	uncertain
Madagascar	extant	uncertain
Mauritius	extant	uncertain
Mozambique	extant	uncertain
Namibia	extant	uncertain
New Zealand	extant	native			yes
Norfolk Island (to Australia)	extant	uncertain
Peru	extant	uncertain
Réunion (to France)	extant	uncertain
South Africa	extant	native			yes
South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands	extant	uncertain
St Helena (to UK)	extant	uncertain
Uruguay	extant	uncertain

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Australia	Albatross Island and Black Pyramid Rock
Australia	Mewstone
Australia	Pedra Branca

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Grassland	Subantarctic	major	breeding
Grassland	Temperate	major	breeding
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	Sea Cliffs and Rocky Offshore Islands	major	breeding
Marine Neritic	Macroalgal/Kelp	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Macroalgal/Kelp	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Pelagic	major	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Pelagic	major	breeding
Marine Neritic	Seagrass (Submerged)	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Seagrass (Submerged)	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Loose Rock/pebble/gravel	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Loose Rock/pebble/gravel	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Rock and Rocky Reefs	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Rock and Rocky Reefs	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Sandy	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Sandy	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Sandy-Mud	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Sandy-Mud	suitable	breeding
Marine Oceanic	Epipelagic (0-200m)	major	breeding
Marine Oceanic	Epipelagic (0-200m)	major	non-breeding
Marine Oceanic	Mesopelagic (200-1000m)	major	non-breeding
Marine Oceanic	Mesopelagic (200-1000m)	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%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species mortality
Climate change & severe weather	Storms & flooding	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Causing/Could cause fluctuations		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Problematic native species/diseases - Morus serrator	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Competition, Reduced reproductive success
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Viral/prion-induced diseases - Avipoxvirus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Viral/prion-induced diseases - Unspecified species	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species mortality

Purpose	Scale
Handicrafts, jewellery, etc.	international

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2025) Species factsheet: Shy Albatross Thalassarche cauta. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/shy-albatross-thalassarche-cauta on 16/01/2025.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2025) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 16/01/2025.