Wandering Albatross:
The extraordinary creatures that have the largest flight. The ones that always fly high in the heights of sky. The ones that have their own set of morals and believe in the concept of freedom. The ones that are called as “Albatross”.
- The wandering albatross is one of the largest birds and largest member of “Diomedes exulans”.
- Diemedea is derived from Diomedes who is a Greek mythology hero. It is believed that Diomedes and his companions were converted into birds.
- Exulans means Wanderer.
Other names:
Wandering albatross is also called as “Snowy albatross” and “White winged albatross”.
Wandering Albatross Average weight:
Average weight of wandering albatross is 6 to 12 kg. Males have weight 20% more than females.
Wandering Albatross Average size/length:
Average size of wandering albatross is 135 cm.
Wandering Albatross Wingspan:
The distance between the ends of the wings of birds is called as wingspan. Average wingspan of wandering albatross is 3.5m.
- Wandering albatross have the largest wingspan.
Wandering Albatross Breeding:
- When wandering albatross reaches to the age of 11 years, they become sexually mature.
- The male wandering albatross spreads his wings, makes a noise and waves his head during mating.
- Mating starts in November.
- The female albatross lays only 1 egg per mating.
- The breeding occurs after 2 years but some species continues the breeding process for life.
- After the birth of chick, the parents will start caring for it.
Wandering Albatross Feed:
- The diet of wandering albatross is mainly squid. They can also eat anything including garbage while following ships.
- They sometimes eat so much that they will lose their flying ability and float.
Conservation status:
Conversation status of wandering albatross is “vulnerable”. This means that they are at the risk of becoming endangered.
Wandering Albatross Distribution:
Wandering albatross is distributed in all oceans except North Atlantic Ocean. They are found in South Georgia, Bouvet Island and Antarctic Peninsula.
Wandering Albatross Habitat:
The wandering albatrosses fly most of the time. They land only for breeding and feeding purposes.
Wandering Albatross Description/Appearance:
Wandering albatross appears white. When viewed from close view, they have black lines on their breast and neck. The bill is yellow coloured. The wing becomes black with age. The white tail has black lines occasionally.
- Female albatrosses are smaller as compared to males.
Lifespan of Wandering albatross:
The average lifespan of wandering albatross is 50 years.
Total number of Wandering albatrosses:
There are 25,200 wandering albatrosses in the world on an average.
Flight of wandering albatrosses:
The wandering albatrosses are gliding birds. While gliding, they gain height by utilizing energy of wind and come down by utilizing potential energy gained by the height. This process of travelling distance is called as “dynamic soaring”.
- On an average, wandering albatrosses can fly up to 40 km/h.
- Wandering albatrosses have slow twitch fibers in their muscles specified for flight that help them in gliding.
Relationship of wandering albatrosses with humans:
- The threats to wandering albatrosses include
- Seabirds and albatrosses can also get caught while catching fish.
- Chemical and plastic pollution of the sea is also a threat.
- Sailors usually give names to albatrosses which mean stupidity.
- Sailors also consider albatrosses a sign of storm because they can’t fly in calm weather.
- Albatrosses are also used in fashion trade.
Wandering Albatross Size:
- Wandering albatross is one of the largest birds.
- It is the largest member of Diomedea exulans.
- They are also called as snowy albatross and white winged albatross.
- Average size of wandering albatross is 135 centimeters.
Wandering Albatross Habitat:
Wandering albatrosses spend most the time of their life in flight. They come to land only for breeding and feeding purposes.
Wandering Albatross Facts:
Following are some facts of wandering albatross
- The wandering albatross is one of the largest birds.
- It is the largest member of Deomedea exulans.
- Diomedea is derived from the word Diomedes which is a greek mythology hero. It is believed that Diomedes and his companions were converted into birds.
- Exulans means wanderer.
- It has the largest wingspan of 3.5m.
- It has size of about 135 cm.
- It has weight of about 6 to 12 kg.
- It is a gliding bird.
- It appears white usually but also has some black lines on breast and neck.
- There are total 25,200 wandering albatrosses in the world.
- It feeds on squid.
- The conservation status of wandering albatross is vulnerable.
Wandering Albatross Height:
- The average height of wandering albatross is 135 centimeters.
- They are at the risk of becoming endangered.
Wandering Albatross Diet:
- The diet of wandering albatross is mainly squid.
- They can eat anything while following ships.
- They can also eat garbage.
- After eating too much, they lose their flying ability. They just float.
Wandering Albatross Lifespan:
The average lifespan of wandering albatross is 50 years.
Wandering Albatross Adaptations:
Following are some adaptations of wandering albatross
- They have large wings.
- These large wings help them in gliding.
- They use wind energy for gliding and come back by using potential energy gained by flying.
- They have slow twitch fibers in their muscles that help them in flying.
- They also have thick feathers for the protection against extreme weathers.
Wandering Albatross Attack:
Albatrosses are attacked by humans.
- The albatrosses can get caught while catching fish.
- The pollution of sea including chemical and plastic can kill albatrosses.
- They are blamed of cruel weather conditions like wind or storm because of their inability to fly in calm weather.
Wandering Albatross Baby:
The process of breeding of wandering albatross includes spreading of the wings, making a noise and waving of the head of male albatross.
- The female albatross lays only one egg per mating.
- After the birth, proper care should be provided to chick.
Wandering Albatross Behavior:
- Wandering albatrosses mostly feed on squids.
- Garbage also includes in their food because they follow ships.
- They come to land for feeding purpose.
- Male and female wandering albatross mate after every 2 years.
- Breeding occurs mostly in November.
- During early stages after the birth of chick, the male and female albatross switch turns for sitting on the nest.
- Both the parent albatrosses hunt for food.
Wandering Albatross Characteristics:
- Wandering albatrosses are the one of the largest birds.
- They are the largest member of Deomedea exulans.
- They appear white.
- Mostly they have black lines on breast and neck.
- They become black at wings with the advancement of age.
- They are gliding birds.
- They go through the process of dynamic soaring i.e. utilize wind energy for gliding and come down by using potential energy gained by height.
- They have slow twitch fibers that help them in flying.
- They have thick weathers that protect them from harsh weather.
Wandering Albatross Classification:
The wandering albatrosses are one of the largest birds.
- They belong to kingdom Animalia and genus Diomedea exulans.
- There are 22 species of albatross. Some of them are, Waved albatross phoebastria irrorata, short tailed albatrosd phoebastria albatrus and many more.
Wandering Albatross Compared To Human:
There are many threats to wandering albatrosses.
- They can get caught while catching fish.
- Chemical and plastic pollution of sea is also a threat.
- Sailors consider them a sign of storm.
Conclusion:
Wandering albatrosses are the most astonishing creatures. They are the largest members of Diomedea exulans and one of the largest gliding birds. They also have the largest wingspan which makes them unique.