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  1. Species
  2. ›
  3. Diomedeidae
  4. ›
  5. Thalassarche
  6. ›
  7. Grey-headed Albatross
Grey-headed Albatross
Photo · steve b

BirdUp · Species

Grey-headed Albatross

Thalassarche chrysostoma(Forster, JR, 1785)

Updated 21 March 2026

Conservation status: EndangeredOrigin: Native
Order
PROCELLARIIFORMES
Family
Diomedeidae
Genus
Thalassarche

At a glance

The Grey-headed Albatross is a very large bird, about 70–85 cm long, listed as Endangered and native to Australia. It can be seen year-round.

Size
70–85 cm
Conservation status
Endangered
Origin
Native
Best seen
Year-round
Commonness
Rare
  • Identification
  • Where
  • When
  • Behaviour
  • Gallery

01 · Identification

How to tell it apart

What does a Grey-headed Albatross look like?

The Grey-headed Albatross is a very large bird, about 70–85 cm long.

The grey-headed albatross also known as the gray-headed mollymawk, is a large seabird from the albatross family. It has a circumpolar distribution, nesting on isolated islands in the Southern Ocean and feeding at high latitudes, further south than any of the other mollymawks. Its name derives from its ashy-gray head, throat and upper neck.

Description · wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Field specs

Length
70–85 cm
Wingspan
180 cm

Measurements · avonet · CC BY 4.0

03 · When

When to look

When can you see a Grey-headed Albatross?

The Grey-headed Albatross is present across its Australian range year-round, so it can be seen in any month.

  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec

05 · Behaviour

Habits and haunts

06 · Gallery

Plumage up close

3 photos

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02 · Where

Where to find it

Where does the Grey-headed Albatross live in Australia?

The Grey-headed Albatross is native to Australia, recorded across 19 of Australia’s bioregions.

BreedingSubantarctic islands of Ildefonso and Diego Ramirez (south-west of Tierra del Fuego), South Georgia, Prince Edward, Crozet, Kerguelen (south-west to south-east Indian Ocean), Macquarie (far south-east of Australia) and Campbell is. (south of South I., New Zealand)

Non-breedingSouth oceans mostly south of Subtropical Convergence

Distribution from BirdUp Australia community data

Legend

  • Non-breeding
  • Passage
  • Vagrant

7 regions recorded