Birds
Chatham Albatross
Thalassarche eremita · also called Chatham mollymawk
Nesting nowhere on Earth except a single wave-battered rock stack in New Zealand’s Chatham Islands, a Chatham albatross carries its entire world population on one small site, a degree of geographic concentration matched by almost no other seabird species.
Overview
The Chatham albatross, Thalassarche eremita, is a Vulnerable seabird native to ocean habitat across the South Pacific, breeding only in New Zealand’s Chatham Islands. Its extraordinarily restricted single-site breeding range, distinctive bright yellow bill, and heightened vulnerability to catastrophic events make it one of the more precariously positioned albatross species found anywhere in the world.
An entire species riding on one rock
Few animals anywhere concentrate their entire global population as tightly as the Chatham albatross, whose every breeding pair nests on the same single rock stack, leaving the species’s long-term survival dependent on the continued stability of one small, storm-exposed site.
Status
Vulnerable, having remained relatively stable in recent years thanks to habitat protection measures at its single breeding site, though it remains at heightened risk given its extreme geographic concentration.
Chatham Albatross: common questions
Where does the Chatham albatross breed?
This species breeds nowhere on Earth except a single rock stack known as The Pyramid in New Zealand's Chatham Islands, concentrating its entire world population onto one tiny site.
How can you identify a Chatham albatross?
This species has a distinctive bright yellow bill, one of the clearest features separating it from similar mollymawk species encountered at sea across the South Pacific.
Why is the Chatham albatross considered especially vulnerable?
This species faces an unusually severe extinction risk because a single storm, disease outbreak, or other catastrophic event striking its one breeding site could threaten its entire world population at once.
How far does the Chatham albatross travel to feed?
This species forages widely across productive continental shelf waters off New Zealand and Chile, travelling far from its tiny breeding site between nesting seasons before returning to raise its single chick.