The majority of Short-tailed Albatrosses nest on one volcanic Japanese island. The species ranges throughout most of the North Pacific, including off the coast of British Columbia, where they are likely a year-round visitor. Once very common visitors to the British Columbia coast, the slaughter of birds for the feather trade reduced the population to a few individuals. By 1949, the species was thought to be extinct but it persisted, thanks to ~50 immature birds being at sea during the final harvests. Since then, the global population has rebounded to over 6,870 individuals and the species continues to recover at ~8.5% per year (P. Sievert, University of Massachusetts, pers. comm.). Though data are insufficient to determine any change in the population observed in Canadian waters relative to 1970, numbers are thought to have increased over the last 10 years. The species was re-assessed as Threatened by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada due to its small population size (COSEWIC 2013g). It was listed under the Species at Risk Act in 2005. This species has been identified as a priority for conservation and/or stewardship in one or more Bird Conservation Region Strategies in Canada.
Currently, the primary threats to Short-tailed Albatrosses in Canadian waters and beyond include incidental mortalities in commercial fisheries, bioaccumulation of contaminants, exposure to marine oil spills, and ingestion of plastics and other marine contaminants (COSEWIC 2013g). With their wide-ranging oceanic distribution and the potential for a single natural or human-induced catastrophe to affect nearly the entire breeding population, the successful recovery of this species requires coordinated international conservation. One such example is the establishment of a third breeding colony through the translocation of hand-reared chicks (Deguchi et al. 2016). A multi-species action plan (including the Short-tailed Albatross) has been developed for Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve (Parks Canada Agency 2016a). For information on the legal status of this species under the Species at Risk Act (SARA) and to view available recovery documents, see the SARA Registry.
Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:
Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.
