---
title: "Witkapalbatros"
description: "Thalassarche cauta — Vogels. The shy albatross (Thalassarche cauta), also known as the shy mollymawk, is a medium-sized albatross that breeds on three remote islands off the coast of Tasmania, Australia, in the southern Indian Ocean."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/nl/animal/shy-albatross
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Witkapalbatros

> Thalassarche cauta — Vogels. The shy albatross (Thalassarche cauta), also known as the shy mollymawk, is a medium-sized albatross that breeds on three remote islands off the coast of Tasmania, Australia, in the southern Indian Ocean.

- Scientific name: *Thalassarche cauta*
- Category: `birds` (Vogels)
- Habitats: `sea` (Zee en kust)
- iNaturalist observations: 4117
- Wikidata: [Q1262700](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1262700)
- iNaturalist taxon: [4088](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/4088)

## Names

- en: Shy Albatross
- de: Weißkappenalbatros
- es: Albatros corona blanca
- fr: Albatros à cape blanche
- nl: Witkapalbatros
- pt: Albatroz-arisco
- pl: Albatros szarodzioby

## Countries with the most observations

NZ (1234), AU (690), ZA (62), AR (4)

## Summary

The shy albatross (Thalassarche cauta), also known as the shy mollymawk, is a medium-sized albatross that breeds on three remote islands off the coast of Tasmania, Australia, in the southern Indian Ocean. Its lifespan is about 60 years, and it has been seen as far afield as South Africa and the Pacific coast of the United States. As of June 2020, the species is listed as "Endangered" in Australia; there are thought to be 15,000 pairs of shy albatross left. It is Australia's only endemic albatross.
Some authorities call this species the white-capped albatross, but that name is more commonly applied to Thalassarche…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shy_albatross

## Photo

![Witkapalbatros](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/shy-albatross/medium.jpg)

Photo: Mark Fraser · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/217261217

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/shy-albatross?lang=nl` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).