The most legendary seabird, of course, can be called an albatross. In the family to which he belongs, there are only about twenty species. But the size and length of the wing stands out wandering albatross. He earned fame for his love of long-distance travel over the sea surface. The bird itself is very amazing, let's get to know it better.
Why is a wandering albatross so called?
It is believed that the name of the bird was invented by Spanish sailors in the fifteenth century. Then they called all the big birds alcatraz. The English, however, pronounced the word in their own way, and it sounded like an "albatross." The name was fixed everywhere.
Due to physiological features, the wandering albatross spends most of his life in flight. The origin of the name is connected with this fact. Very often you can see how the bird accompanies the ships. Indeed, the albatross behaves like a real wanderer, constantly wandering from one sea to another, and only rarely lands on the ocean islands.
What does a wandering albatross look like?
Adult birds have full white plumage, with the exception of small black patches on the back surface of the wings. Young individuals are somewhat different in appearance. The chicks have brown plumage, which only fades with time and becomes white. Echoes of a "young" color are usually found on the chest as a small strip.
Albatross fluff covers the body in a continuous and dense layer. The plumage is light and warm, in physical properties close to a swan. As a rule, the legs are pale pink in color, and the eyes have a dark brown shade. The beak is powerful, due to which the albatross wandering looks frightening for some birds.
The description of eyewitnesses is simply amazing. Some travelers say the albatross is almost the size of a person. And indeed, the body reaches almost 120 centimeters in length. But the wingspan, which can be more than three meters, is more amazing!
Albatross Traveler Habitats
The albatross can rightly be called a large and strong bird. She calmly flies a thousand kilometers above the water surface. Therefore, the homeland can be considered not land, but oceans and seas. This traveler’s halo is the waters adjacent to icy Antarctica and the southern shores of Africa, Australia and America. Individual individuals can be found in the northern hemisphere of the planet, but very rarely.
Wandering Albatross: Food
As a rule, this bird prefers fish, crustaceans and cephalopods as food. The albatross catches them on the surface of the water or dives after them to a shallow depth. Most often, he does this in the dark. This majestic bird loves to profit from the storm, because with the waves a lot of food is thrown ashore.
A wandering albatross does not disdain the garbage that is thrown from the ships. Therefore, very often you can see how this bird accompanies ships sailing far from the coast, in the hope of intercepting something edible. There are individuals that settle in fishing areas (for example, on the Patagonian shelf or the Falkland Islands). There, albatrosses, along with petrels, turn into banal scavengers and feed on waste remaining from seafood production.
Albatross is a bird of prey, so there have been quite bloodthirsty cases with humans. The dead people who tried to escape from the storm were found with mutilated faces and broken eyes. Experts confirmed that this was done by an albatross. One captain said that he had witnessed the attack of this bird on a sailor. Such cases have occurred, but are rather the exception.
Life in flight
As already mentioned, most of the life of this bird takes place in flight. Every day she can cover a distance of two hundred to a thousand kilometers. This fact is explained by physiological features. First of all, it is worth noting the hollow bones and air sacs, thanks to which the wandering albatross weighs very little. The wingspan of up to four meters is just perfect in aerodynamic terms.
Such physiological features allow the albatross to use air currents during flight. Muscular effort is practically not applied. The bird flaps its wings only during take-off and landing, and the rest of the time soars. And so it can go on for hours. A wandering albatross lands for breeding only. Above fifteen meters above the water does not rise. At low air temperatures and on calm days it flies even lower. The bird loves storms and moves perfectly against the wind.
Ornithologists believe that in ten days five thousand kilometers can easily be overcome by a wandering albatross. Lifestyle - constant flights, and this is the norm for a traveling bird. One interesting case of a ringed individual was described. Albatross was released in the Tasman Sea, and six months later he was found at South Georgia. After about six months, the bird was seen off the coast of Australia. Ornithologists believe that a wandering albatross in his whole life can make several round-the-world travels.
Take-off and landing features
It is believed that a wandering albatross never lands on water. Of course, this is a myth. All bird food (crustaceans, fish, and mollusks) just lives in the water. Moreover, albatrosses even dive after it to a shallow depth.
But on the deck, this traveler tries not to land. This is explained by the fact that, due to short legs and long wings, it is difficult for an albatross to rise into the air from a flat surface. The same is the case with take-off from the surface of the water into calm. A wandering albatross in such weather sits for a long time on the sea surface, it rises heavily and reluctantly into the air. To do this, you have to work hard.
First, the bird picks up speed, pushing its feet off the surface. Then it flies low over the sea surface, sometimes flapping its wings. And again it lands on the water. So until then, until it finally rises into the air.
The landing of an albatross is even more interesting to watch. The bird stretches the webbed feet forward and spreads its wings wide. Then he carefully touches the surface of the water with his feet, raising the spray. So, like skiing, an albatross glides a few meters, after which it gradually folds its wings.
Traveling Bird Lifestyle
Albatross is a solitary bird, but only during nesting it gathers in colonies. The wanderer prefers a monogamous relationship, so he forms a couple for life. Relationships are broken if the partner dies or the chicks cannot be hatched. Only then does the albatross look for another pair to procreate.
This traveler lives on average twenty years. Some die as chicks from predators. But it is worth noting that there is information about individuals who have survived to the age of fifty.
Features of the mating season
The life span of this bird is quite long, but it does not have many descendants. Usually, it begins to nest not earlier than eight years, and displays the next chicks only after a few years.
The mating season begins in December, then the colonies come together. A wandering albatross nesting habitat chooses warmer. These are the subantarctic islands, Macquarie, Kerguelen, Crozet and South Georgia. Nest equip on cliffs, rocky slopes and desert shores, which are well blown by the wind.
Before mating, wandering albatrosses perform a special dance. During it, females and males widely spread their wings, rub their beaks, bow and go towards each other. The ritual lasts a long time and ends with raising one's head to the sky with a loud scream.
Wandering period of wandering albatross
Equip the nest partners together. To do this, they use old buildings or make new ones from grass, moss and flowers. The nest is rather big (about a meter wide and thirty centimeters deep). A wandering albatross lays only one egg, but large enough, half a kilogram in weight.
Incubation lasts eighty days. During this time, partners replace each other every two weeks. But still, the male mainly takes care of the nest. In search of food, he can leave the female for a month and fly several thousand kilometers. During hatching, birds can even lose about fifteen percent in weight.
