Birda Logo
Features
Birda+
About
Species Guide
Challenges
Shop
loading...
A photo of a Buller's Albatross (Thalassarche bulleri)
Buller's Albatross

Buller's Albatross

Thalassarche bulleri

The Buller's albatross, also known as Buller's mollymawk, is a small member of the albatross family, with an average length of 79 cm. It boasts a silver-grey forehead, a grey head and throat, and a distinctive black patch around its eyes, complemented by a white crescent behind and below the eye. The upper parts of the bird are dark grey, while the rump and underparts are white. Its underwing is white with a black tip and a broad, sharply defined dark band at the leading edge. The bill is large and predominantly black, with yellow on the upper mandible and at the tip. Juveniles present with a darker head and a brown bill.

Identification Tips

When identifying Buller's albatross, look for the striking contrast between the dark upperwing and the white underparts. The black tip and leading edge band on the underwing are key features, as is the yellow-touched bill. The black eye patch and white crescent are also distinctive markers.

Habitat

Buller's albatross is a pelagic bird, spending much of its life at sea. It breeds on remote islands with cliffs, steep coastal terraces, grassy meadows, and tussock-covered hills. Some populations also nest under trees inland.

Distribution

This species is endemic to New Zealand, breeding on the Snares Islands, Solander Island, Chatham Islands, and Three Kings Islands. Adults forage between 40°S and 50°S from Tasmania to the Chatham Rise, while non-breeding juveniles and adults disperse across the South Pacific, with some feeding in the Humboldt Current off Chile and Peru.

Behaviour

Buller's albatross is a colonial nester, with breeding beginning in December. The nest is a mound of soil, grass, and roots set into depressions in the breeding area. Incubation lasts around 60 days, with both parents sharing the responsibility. After hatching, it takes 170 days to fledge the chick, and they breed annually.

Feeding

The diet of Buller's albatross includes squid, fish, tunicates, octopus, and crustacea, with a noted importance of fishery discards during chick-rearing.

Conservation Status

Previously classified as vulnerable, Buller's albatross has been downlisted to near threatened due to new research indicating it is not as rare as once believed. The species has an occurrence range of 16,100,000 km² and a breeding range of 4 km². The estimated population is 64,000 birds with 31,939 breeding adults. Populations on the Snares Islands are increasing, while the Solander Island population has shown an 18% increase. Adult survival rates are high, and most breeding islands are legally protected. However, Buller's albatross is the most common bycatch in longline fisheries out of New Zealand, and introduced predators such as weka may pose a threat to eggs and chicks on some islands.

App logo
Birda is a birdwatching app and community aimed at curious people who want to deepen their connection with nature.

Buller's Albatrosses on Birda

Photos
Sightings

More Albatrosses

A photo of a Amsterdam Albatross (Diomedea amsterdamensis)

Amsterdam Albatross

Diomedea amsterdamensis
Birda Logo

Your birdwatching journey like never before

Connect with nature in minutes
Take a walk, look out of the window and log the birds that you see. Feel good about those little connections to nature.
Discover the joy of birding
Find new birding spots, see more birds, share and celebrate with a like-minded community of nature lovers.
Play your part in saving nature
Logging your birding sightings and sessions turns into positive action for our planet. Every sighting counts.

Birda Blog

What Our Birders Say
Patricia L
Very encouraging birding app
Easy to use, fun to see progress and encouraging to receive feedback from other users.
Safira V
Birding and wellbeing app
Birda is an excellent platform to share your love of Birding and is a great tool of encouragement for a Birding Beginner like me. Birda has a very kind and supportive community of Birding enthusiasts. For me BIRDA is not only a BIRDING but also a WELLBEING App.
Unbridled Discoveries
Great app for bird lovers
I love this app! It’s a wonderful way to track birding sessions, and also connect you with fellow birders. I also really like the unidentified bird section, it’s a great community tool to help figure out what a never-before-seen bird is!
SuperOliviaGirl
Really great app
It’s easy to use and it’s fun to log the birds you notice on a walk or just in your garden. There’s a option to record the birds you see in a session which is really nice. Good excuse to stop for a while and just watch birds. I am also enjoying the information part where you can find out fact about birds from all over the world.
Dan R
Great app for bird fanatics
Great app for bird fanatics - very user friendly and a perfect place to share sightings.
Dunners12345
Great App
Great app to use for logging and communicating with others who are interested in birds
Anonymous
The best bird logging app
Birda is honestly the best bird logging app I have seen. I love all the features it has from being able to do a session and log all the birds you see in one sitting, to being able to connect with other birders from all over the globe!
Louise L
Easy to use and accurate
Love this app. It is easy to use and accurate, Their backup communication is really good. I noted a missing species. All through the process, I was kept informed about the progress in correcting the information. I now have the corrected, updated version. 😁 Thanks!
Bryan C
Clean and easy to use
Really enjoying this app, it's clean and easy to use. I love the ease of being able to add those one-off birds without starting a whole checklist. I also like the social aspect, like the parts of my Facebook I like, without the ads and junk, just birds. Can't wait to see it become more populated.
Ellesse_W
Learning Birding with Birda
I’m relatively new to birding as a hobby, and Birda is a great way to keep track off all the species I see. I’m still working on my ID skills, but the app is great for figuring out potential species, and the online community is so friendly and helpful. Definitely recommend Birda to both early and serious birders! 🐦
As featured in
Birda Logo
AboutPressAmbassadorsAffiliatesInfluencersCareersPrivacyTerms & Conditions
An app for birdwatchers
Connect with us
Copyright © 2024 Chirp Birding. All rights reserved.