---
title: "Taxonomic status of Shy and White-capped Albatrosses"
---

# Taxonomic status of Shy and White-capped Albatrosses

George Sangster (Department of Bioinformatics and Genetics, [Swedish Museum of Natural History](http://www.nrm.se/english.16_en.html), Stockholm, Sweden) and colleagues write in the ornithological journal [*Ibis*](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1474-919X) on the taxonomic status of the shy albatross complex.  They recognize three species, regarding the Shy Albatross *Thalassarche cauta* (endemic to Australia) and the White-capped Albatross *T. steadi* (endemic to New Zealand) as conspecific and separable at the subspecific level.

 ACAP currently recognizes these two taxa as full species, as does BirdLife International/IUCN, with both being categorized as Near Threatened.

 The 10th Report of the Taxonomic Sub-Committee of the [BOU Records Committee](http://www.bou.org.uk/british-list/bourc-its-work-and-its-members/) writes of the shy albatross taxon as follows:

 “A phylogeographical analysis based on mitochondrial DNA sequences indicates that Shy Albatross comprises three major groups: *eremita*, *salvini* and*cauta/steadi* (Abbott & Double 2003a).  Of these, *eremita* and *salvini* are sister taxa, and *cauta/steadi* their closest relatives (Nunn & Stanley 1998, Chambers*et al.* 2009).  These three groups differ in plumage and bare-parts coloration.  Adult *eremita* has dark grey plumage on the head and neck and a bright yellow bill, while *salvini* has noticeably lighter grey head and neck plumage and a grey bill with a contrasting pale yellow upper ridge, and adult *cauta/steadi* has white head, neck and upper mantle, and a pale grey bill with a pale yellow upper ridge (Marchant & Higgins 1990, Tickell 2000, Brooke 2004).

 The taxa *cauta* and *steadi* show a single fixed nucleotide difference, minor plumage differences and mean differences in morphometrics but do not form reciprocally monophyletic groups (Abbott & Double 2003a,b, Double *et al.* 2003).  Current evidence provides insufficient support for recognizing *cauta* and *steadi* as full species.  Based on the combination of morphological and molecular data, recognition of three species is warranted:

 Shy Albatross *Thalassarche cauta* (polytypic, with subspecies *cauta*, *steadi*)

 Chatham Albatross *Thalassarche eremita* (monotypic)

 Salvin's Albatross *Thalassarche salvini*(monotypic)

 Shy Albatross is on the Western Palaearctic list based on a single record in Egypt and Israel (February–March 1981, Shirihai 1996, see also Cole 2000).”

 ![](https://www.acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Albatrosses/W/White_capped/White-capped Albatross nest byDavid Thompson.jpg)

 A White-capped Albatross stands over its chick, photograph by David Thompson

 **Reference:**

 Sangster, G., Collinson, J.M., Crochet, P.-A., Kirwan, G.M., Knox, A.G., Parkin, D.T. & Votier, S.C. 2014.  Taxonomic recommendations for Western Palaearctic birds: 10th Report.  [*Ibis* 157: 193-200](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ibi.12221/pdf).

 *John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 05 January 2015*