| Snowy albatross | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Procellariiformes |
| Family: | Diomedeidae |
| Genus: | Diomedea |
| Species: | D. exulans
|
| Binomial name | |
| Diomedea exulans | |
| |
| Synonyms | |
|
Diomedea chionoptera | |
The snowy albatross (Diomedea exulans), also known as the white-winged albatross, wandering albatross, or goonie, is a large seabird from the family Diomedeidae; they have a circumpolar range in the Southern Ocean. It is the most recently described species of albatross and was long considered to be the same species as the Tristan albatross and the Antipodean albatross. Together with the Amsterdam albatross, it forms the wandering albatross species complex. When the complex was split into four species, the English name of the nominate form was changed from wandering albatross to snowy albatross.
The snowy albatross is one of the two largest members of the genus Diomedea (the great albatrosses), being similar in size to the southern royal albatross. It has the greatest known wingspan of any living bird and is also one of the most far-ranging birds. Some individual snowy albatrosses are known to circumnavigate the Southern Ocean three times in one year, covering more than 120,000 km (75,000 mi).
- ^ BirdLife International (2018). "Diomedea exulans". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T22698305A132640680. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22698305A132640680.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Brand, S. 2008was invoked but never defined (see the help page).