Light-mantled Albatross
Phoebetria palpebrata
NTNear Threatened
- Family
- Albatrosses (Diomedeidae)
- Order
- Procellariiformes
Overview
The light-mantled albatross (Phoebetria palpebrata), also known as the grey-mantled albatross or the light-mantled sooty albatross, is a small albatross in the genus Phoebetria, which it shares with the sooty albatross. The light-mantled albatross was first described as Phoebetria palpebrata by Johann Reinhold Forster, in 1785, based on a specimen from south of the Cape of Good Hope.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Diet: Squid and fish.
How to identify it
- Sooty albatross with a pale grey-brown mantle
- Broken white crescent behind the eye
- Pairs perform synchronised display flights
Voice
Haunting 'pee-ah' calls at nests.
Where to see it
- South Georgia
- Macquarie Island
Destination guides featuring this bird
Australia
Macquarie Island
A windswept ridge in the Southern Ocean with millions of penguins.
- JJanuary: Best
- FFebruary: Best
- MMarch: Poor or no data
- AApril: Poor or no data
- MMay: Poor or no data
- JJune: Poor or no data
- JJuly: Poor or no data
- AAugust: Poor or no data
- SSeptember: Poor or no data
- OOctober: Poor or no data
- NNovember: Best
- DDecember: Best
New Zealand
New Zealand subantarctic islands
Auckland and Campbell Islands: albatross nests among megaherbs.
- JJanuary: Best
- FFebruary: Best
- MMarch: Poor or no data
- AApril: Poor or no data
- MMay: Poor or no data
- JJune: Poor or no data
- JJuly: Poor or no data
- AAugust: Poor or no data
- SSeptember: Poor or no data
- OOctober: Poor or no data
- NNovember: Good
- DDecember: Best
South Georgia
South Georgia
Beaches packed with King Penguins and breeding albatrosses.
- JJanuary: Best
- FFebruary: Best
- MMarch: Good
- AApril: Poor or no data
- MMay: Poor or no data
- JJune: Poor or no data
- JJuly: Poor or no data
- AAugust: Poor or no data
- SSeptember: Poor or no data
- OOctober: Good
- NNovember: Best
- DDecember: Best
Similar species
- Sooty Albatross
- uniformly dark mantle
Range and habitat
Breeds circumpolar subantarctic islands; ranges through subantarctic and Antarctic oceans.
Range description: AviList Global Avian Checklist.
Continents
Habitats
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Light-mantled albatross
- eBird: sightings, maps and photos
- xeno-canto: sound recordings
- Birds of the World: full species account (subscription)
- BirdLife DataZone: status and threats
- IUCN Red List (threat status)
- AviList global checklist (taxonomy)
Last updated September 29, 2026.
