albatross

Albatross

The 3.4 m (11 ft) wingspan of the wandering albatross, one of the largest birds, is an adaptation allowing long distance flight over vast expanses of open ocean. Generally restricted in their distribution to between 45 and 70 degrees south latitude, albatrosses feed on crustaceans, squid, and fish during the daylight and evening hours. The wandering albatross lives for up to 30 years and may not breed until the age of 15, when a single egg is laid and incubated for 65 to 79 days.

Albatross is the common name applied to 13 species of large seabirds. Albatross bills are characterized by a markedly hooked upper mandible with tubular nostrils protruding from the base. The feet are strongly webbed and lack a hind claw; the wings are long and narrow. Thirteen species of albatross can be found mainly throughout seas of the southern hemisphere, from the Antarctic region north to the Tropics; a few species inhabit the North Pacific Ocean.

Albatrosses are nomadic birds that spend months wandering great distances over the oceans. They sleep while floating on the ocean surface, drink seawater, and feed on cuttlefish, other small marine animals, and refuse from ships. They return to land only to breed, at which time they perform a stylized courting ritual of elaborate bowing and posturing. Albatrosses nest on barren islands, close to shore; usually the nest is a depression in the ground containing a single egg. When hatched, the nestling is covered with brownish down, and it grows to adulthood relatively slowly.

Albatrosses are relatively fearless around humans, who have nicknamed the birds “gooneys.” Nesting sites near military airstrips on small islands have sometimes created problems because of the birds' interference with takeoffs and landings. Albatrosses also often follow a ship for days, diving steeply into the water to recover refuse from the wake of the ship. The birds are easily caught with baited hook and line; captured birds usually are released, however, because of a superstition commonly held by sailors that killing an albatross brings bad luck. The superstition forms the theme of “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Well-known species include the wandering albatross, a huge bird with a 3.4 m (11 ft) wingspread. The plumage of adults is white with black wing tips; young birds are chocolate brown and become whiter as they grow older. The Laysan albatross is a smaller, brown-winged species with a sooty-black spot near the eyes and a gray bill. Another smaller species is the black-footed albatross.

The ages at which birds begin to breed varies from less than a year in many songbirds and some quail to ten years or more in some albatross. The life spans of birds in the wild are poorly known. Many small songbirds live only three to five years, whereas some albatross are known to have survived more than 60 years in the wild.

Scientific classification: Albatrosses make up the family Diomedeidae in the order Procellariiformes. The wandering albatross is classified as Diomedea exulans, the Laysan albatross as Diomedea immutabilis, and the black-footed albatross as Diomedea nigripes.

http://www.wfu.edu/albatross/index.htm