Where is the albatross. Birds have the largest wingspan. Conservation and protection

Albatrosses have earned fame for long distance travel over the surface of the ocean, as well as the fact that they have the largest wingspan in the world of birds. They are isolated in a separate family of albatrosses, which includes a total of 21 species. Together with petrels, storm-petrels and Cape doves, they make up the order Pipe-nosed, which in its physiology differs sharply from other birds.

White-backed albatross (Phoebastria albatrus).

Albatrosses - large birds, in their detachment they are larger than petrels, not to mention small storm petrels and Cape doves. The weight of large species can reach 11 kg, the wingspan averages 2 m. Outwardly, albatrosses look like large gulls, but this resemblance is only external. The first thing that catches your eye is the "gull" beak - long, narrow, with a sharp hook at the end. But in fact, the beak of these birds is arranged in a special way: firstly, its horny cover is not continuous, but consists of separate plates, as if sewn together; secondly, the nostrils of albatrosses are elongated into long tubes (for which they were called tube-nosed), which are located on the sides of the beak. These tubes play an important role in the life of albatrosses, because the special structure of the nostrils allows these birds to smell at a great distance. A keen sense of smell is the greatest rarity in the world of birds, and in albatrosses it is developed like in real bloodhounds. In addition, the inside of the beak often has notches that prevent slippery prey from falling out of the beak.

A wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans) next to a small representative of the tube-nosed - the Cape dove.

The body of albatrosses is dense and massive, the neck is of medium length, the tail is short and bluntly cut. The paws of albatrosses are relatively short, there are swimming membranes between the fingers. On land, albatrosses move clumsily, waddling from side to side like ducks or geese, but still they walk better than other tube-nosed birds, which often barely hobble on land. The wings of albatrosses are narrow and very long compared to other birds. This wing structure allows birds to glide using air currents rising from the surface of the ocean. In addition, the wings of albatrosses have a special tendon that allows you to spread the wing without expending muscle effort. In terms of the relative and absolute length of the wings, albatrosses are world champions. In small species, wings are up to 2 m long, in large wandering and royal albatrosses, the average wingspan is 3-3.3 m, and the largest copy of the wandering albatross had a wingspan of 3.7 m!

The wings of a wandering albatross are comparable to those of a small single-seat aircraft.

The plumage of these birds is dense and adjacent, the fluff is thick, light and warm, and the fluff covers the body of the albatross with a continuous layer, while in other birds it grows only along certain lines - pterylae. Warm fluff of albatrosses in their own way physical properties approaches the swan. The color of albatrosses is not bright, in small species brown tones predominate, in large ones they are white. Individual parts of the body (head, wings) in white birds can be contrastingly colored gray or black. Birds of both sexes are colored the same.

Light-backed sooty albatross (Phoebetria palpebrata) on the island. South Georgia.

Albatrosses are inhabitants of the Southern Hemisphere, here they are found everywhere in cold and temperate latitudes. During migrations, albatrosses can fly far north and are found up to the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere, but they never fly into the Arctic Ocean.

The Galapagos albatross (Phoebastria irrorata) is the only species that breeds at the equator.

Albatrosses are eternal nomads, they not only do not have permanent habitats, but are in constant motion, covering the entire planet with their flights. Most of the time, albatrosses spend over the surface of the ocean far from the coast; it is quite normal for these birds not to see land for months and even years (albatrosses sleep on the surface of the water). The average flight speed of albatrosses is 50 km / h, but they can increase it up to 80 km / h. On such high speeds albatrosses can fly almost around the clock, overcoming up to 800 km per day! Geolocated albatrosses circled the globe in 46 days, some of them doing it multiple times. Interestingly, despite such “homelessness”, albatrosses nest in strictly defined places. Each species occupies nesting sites on certain islands (Falkland, Galapagos, Japanese, Hawaiian and many others), and each bird returns strictly to the place of its birth. Studies have shown that albatross nests are located on average at a distance of 22 m from the place where they themselves were born! Amazing accuracy and phenomenal topographical memory for birds that haven't seen land in years!

The black-browed albatross (Thalassarche melanophris) soars above the ocean waves.

But albatrosses have another interesting quality. The fact is that different species prefer to get food in different places: some hunt off the coast at a distance of up to 100 km from the coastline, others - far from land. For example, the wandering albatross categorically avoids those areas of the ocean where the depth is less than 1000 m. But how birds determine the depth if they get food only at the surface of the water remains a mystery. During nesting on the islands, birds of different sexes can share feeding areas, for example, males of the Tristan albatross flew only to the west in search of food, and females only to the east.

The Tristan albatross (Diomedea dabbenena) takes off from the surface of the water.

They use updrafts of air reflected from the surface of the ocean to move in the air. First, the albatross gains height, and then glides on spread wings, smoothly descending to the surface of the water and examining the water surface along the way. Descending by 1 m in height, the albatross manages to fly 22-23 m horizontally. The gliding and special design of the wing allows the birds to save energy, so they can stay in the air for hours without making a single wing beat. In complete calm, albatrosses are forced to flap their wings, but at this time they prefer not to rise into the air at all. For this reason, albatrosses have always been considered a sign of trouble among sailors, since their appearance near the ship meant the approach of a storm. For rest, albatrosses sit on the water, but on occasion they willingly use the masts and decks of ships. Because of the long wings, these birds have a hard time taking off; they take a run, preferring to take off from cliffs or steep slopes.

Black-footed albatross (Phoebastria nigripes).

Outside the nesting territories, albatrosses are found singly, but in places rich in food, they can form aggregations with representatives of their own species, other species of albatrosses, as well as gulls, petrels, boobies. On occasion, they track the movement of feeding whales, killer whales and fishing boats, willingly picking up the remains of someone else's prey or fishing waste. Albatrosses treat their fellows and other birds calmly, the nature of these birds is very meek and trusting, for example, on nesting albatrosses they can let a person come close to them.

Albatross is studying a phaeton located nearby.

Albatrosses feed on fish, squid and crustaceans, but they can also eat small plankton and carrion. Some species prefer fish, while others prefer squid. Albatrosses track down their prey from the air and grab from the surface of the ocean with their beak on the fly, but if necessary, these birds can dive from the air or from the surface of the water to a depth of 12 m.

Black-browed albatross colony in the Falkland Islands. In the foreground, a couple is engaged in marital courtship.

Albatrosses breed once every 2 years, at which time they flock to their birthplaces. The location of nests in a colony may be scattered or crowded. The black-browed albatross has the tightest colonies, which can have up to 70 nests per 100 m². Albatross nests are raised ground or a bunch of grass with a hole in the middle. Galapagos albatrosses do not have nests at all, so they sometimes roll their eggs around the colony in search of best place up to 50 m! There are cases when eggs were lost during such skating. With the loss of masonry, albatrosses can make a second one.

Black-footed albatrosses tiptoe to perform mating dance.

Albatrosses are monogamous birds, they remain faithful to a partner all their lives and recognize him after many months of absence. The process of forming a couple stretches for years. For the first few years, young birds fly to nesting sites and lek, but do not find a partner for themselves, as they do not fully know sign language. Over time, they hone their skills and find a suitable partner, and birds of the same pair form their own unique "family" set of signals. Interestingly, the established pair ceases to lek over time, that is, albatrosses use the mating ritual only to create a pair, and not to mate at all. The mating ritual is reduced to sorting out the feathers of oneself and one's partner, turning the head, throwing back the head and loud cackling, flapping outstretched wings, clicking the beak and grabbing the partner's beak (“kisses”). The voice of albatrosses resembles a cross between the cackling of a goose and the neighing of a horse.

A wandering albatross performs a mating song in front of a female.

Albatrosses always lay only 1 large egg and incubate it in turn. Change of partner occurs very rarely - from once a day to once every three weeks. All this time, the birds sit motionless on the nest and do not eat anything, while significantly losing weight. The incubation period of albatrosses is the longest among all birds - 70-80 days.

Black-browed albatross female with chick.

Parents first incubate and heat the hatched chick in turn: while one parent sits on the nest, the second hunts and arrives with prey. For the first three weeks, the chick is fed with small pieces, which the parents regurgitate to the chick, then both adult birds leave the nest and visit it less and less. True, at one time they bring a large amount of food (up to 12% of their own body weight), but it is customary for albatross chicks to sit alone in the nest for several days. During feeding, the chicks accumulate in their stomachs an oily mass of semi-digested food, which serves as their energy reserve.

The giant wandering albatross chick has spent almost a year in the nest.

The nesting period for albatrosses is unprecedentedly long - the chicks leave the nest after 140-170 (for small species) or 280 (for the wandering albatross) days. During this time, they manage to molt twice and gain weight in excess of the weight of an adult bird. The upbringing of the chick ends with the fact that the parents finally leave the nest, and the chick ... remains. He can spend a few more days or weeks in the nest until the molt ends, then the chicks go ashore on their own, where they develop wing flapping for some more time. Often, the chicks spend this non-flying period on the water and at this time they are very vulnerable to sharks, which specially come to the islands to hunt the chicks. Apart from sharks, albatrosses have practically no natural enemies. Young albatrosses fly from their birthplaces to the ocean, only to return here after a few years. The coloration of young birds is always darker than that of adults; over the years, they gradually lighten. Puberty in these birds comes very late - by 5 years, but they begin to participate in reproduction only from 9-10 years. Low fecundity and late maturity compensates for a long lifespan, albatrosses live up to 30-60 years!

The remains of an albatross with plastic debris that the bird ingested while alive.

In the old days, albatross nesting sites were used by sailors and whalers for eggs, blubber and down. Eggs were collected by hand, fat was rendered from chicks, and fluff was collected from their carcasses. At one time, several tens of thousands of eggs and several tons of fat could be imported from the island. The mass slaughter of already infertile albatrosses at nesting sites led to a sharp reduction in their numbers, and in the 18th-19th centuries, the colonization of the islands by people was added to this disaster. The colonists brought cats, dogs and cattle with them to the islands, which disturbed the nesting birds and destroyed the chicks. In addition, albatrosses were shot from ships for entertainment and even caught with bait, like fish. Many species of albatrosses are endangered. The rarest are the Amsterdam, Chatham and white-backed albatrosses, the latter was already recognized as extinct in 1949, but, fortunately, several pairs survived. Careful protection has led to an increase in the number of this species to several hundred individuals, which, of course, cannot be called a prosperous state.

Dark-backed albatrosses (Phoebastria immutabilis) are forced to nest among plastic debris that even ends up on remote uninhabited islands.

Nowadays, albatrosses suffer from pollution of the ocean with garbage and oil products: oil stains the plumage of birds and makes it unsuitable for flight, and albatrosses often take garbage for prey and try to swallow it. The accumulation of debris in the stomach eventually leads to the death of the bird. Currently, out of 21 species of albatrosses, 19 are listed in the Red Book! To protect these beautiful birds, Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, France, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Ecuador signed the Albatross and Petrel Conservation Agreement.

Soaring above the waters albatross known to sailors who go on long journeys. The boundless elements of air and water are subject to a mighty bird that flies to land to procreate, but its whole life is above the seas and oceans. For poets, the albatross is patronized by heaven. According to legend, the one who dared to kill the bird will certainly be punished.

Description and features

largest waterfowl weighs up to 13 kg, albatross wingspan up to 3.7 meters. In nature, there are no similar birds of this size. The build and dimensions of the birds are comparable to gliders, single-seat aircraft designed following the example of the majestic inhabitants of the sea. Powerful wings and body weight allow for instant takeoff. Strong birds can do without land for 2-3 weeks, eat, sleep, and rest on the water surface.

The closest relatives of albatrosses are petrels. Have a dense physique with thick plumage - warm and waterproof protection. The tail of albatrosses is small, often bluntly cut. The wings are narrow, long, with a record span. Their structure provides the following advantages:

• on takeoff - do not expend muscle effort due to a special tendon in the spread of the wings;
• in flight - they soar on air currents from the ocean, and do not fly over the water surface.

Albatross in the photo often captured in this amazing state. The legs of albatrosses are of medium length. The front fingers are connected by swimming membranes. The back toe is missing. Strong legs ensure confident walking though what does a bird look like albatross on land, you can imagine if you remember the duck or goose movement.

Beautiful plumage is based on the contrast of the dark top and white breast plumage. The back and outer part of the wings are almost brown. Young growth receives such clothes only by the fourth year of life.

Albatross bird is included in the list of the tube-nosed order, which is distinguished by the shape of the nostrils twisted into horny tubes. Long in shape, stretched along the organs allow for a keen sense of smell, which is uncharacteristic of birds.

This rare feature helps in the search for food. Powerful beak with a pronounced hooked mandible of small size. Special horny protrusions in the mouth help to hold slippery fish.

The voice of the sea lords resembles the neighing of horses or the cackle of geese. Catching a gullible bird is not difficult at all. This was used by sailors, throwing bait with a fishing hook on a long cord. Once upon a time it was fashionable to decorate outfits with feathers, they were caught because of the valuable fluff, fat, for fun.

Grey-headed albatross in flight

Birds do not die from cold water, do not drown in the depths of the sea. Nature protected them from harsh weather conditions. But spilled oil or other pollution destroys the insulating layer of fat under the feathers, loses the ability to fly and dies of starvation and disease. The purity of sea water is an indispensable condition for their survival.

Albatross species

For the current period, 21 species of albatrosses are distinguished, all of them are united by a similar lifestyle and unsurpassed skill in gliding flight. It is important that 19 species are listed in the Red Book. There is a debate about the number of varieties, but it is more important to keep the birds' habitat clean for their natural reproduction.

Amsterdam albatross. A rare variety was discovered by scientists in the early 80s of the 20th century. Lives in the Amsterdam Islands of the Indian Ocean. The population is in danger of extinction.

Amsterdam albatross female and male

The size is slightly smaller than relatives. The color is more brown. Despite the long flights, he will certainly return to his native places. Differences in development are explained by a certain isolation of the species.

Wandering albatross. The color of white color prevails, the upper part of the wings is covered with black plumage. It lives on the islands of the subarctic. It is this species that often becomes the object of the work of ornithologists. Wandering albatross is the largest bird among all related species.

wandering albatross

Royal albatross. Habitat: New Zealand. The bird is among the giants of the feathered world. The view is distinguished by majestic soaring and high-speed flight up to 100 km/h. Royal albatross is an amazing bird, whose life expectancy is 50-53 years.

Royal albatross

Tristan albatross. Differs in darker color and small size in comparison with large species. Is under the threat of extinction. The habitat is the Tristan da Cunha archipelago. Thanks to careful protection, it is possible to avoid the critical state of some populations and to preserve the rarest species of albatrosses.

Tristan albatross

Lifestyle and habitat

The life of birds is eternal sea voyages, air travel thousands of kilometers away. Albatrosses often accompany ships. Having overtaken the ship, they circle over it, then seem to hover over the stern in anticipation of something edible. If the sailors feed the companion, then the bird descends into the water, collects food and again follows the stern.

Calm weather is the resting time for albatrosses. They fold their large wings, sit on the surface, sleep on the water surface. After the calm, the first gusts of wind help them to rise into the air.

Near ships, suitable masts and ship decks are willingly used to gain strength. Birds prefer to take off from high places. Cliffs and steep slopes are ideal places to take a trip.

Jets of wind, reflection of air currents from the slopes of the waves support the birds on takeoff, accompany in turns at the place of hunting and feeding. Free soaring, oblique and dynamic, with wind speeds up to 20 km / h helps the albatross cover 400 km per day, but this distance does not reflect the limit of their capabilities.

Air currents and bird speed up to 80-100 km / h allow them to move away a thousand kilometers a day. Ringed birds circled the globe in 46 days. Windy weather is their element. They can stay in the ocean of air for hours without making a single movement of their wings.

sooty albatross

Sailors associate the appearance of albatrosses and related petrels with the approach of a storm, they are not always happy with such natural barometers. In places rich in food, huge albatrosses peacefully coexist with medium-sized birds without any showdown: gulls, boobies, petrels. Huge flocks of free birds are created without a social structure. In other places, outside the nesting area, albatrosses live alone.

The gullibility and meekness of birds allows a person to come close. This feature affects and often kills birds. They do not have a defense skill, as they have long nested away from predators.

Territories, where does the albatross live, are extensive. Except territory Arctic Ocean, birds are found in almost all the seas of the northern hemisphere of the Earth. Albatrosses are called Antarctic inhabitants.

bird albatross

Some species moved to the southern hemisphere thanks to man. Flight through the calm sector of the equator is practically impossible for them, with the exception of individual albatrosses. Albatrosses do not have seasonal migrations. After the breeding stage is completed, the birds fly to their related natural areas.

Food

Preferences different types albatrosses are slightly different, although they are connected by a common food base, which includes:

• crustacean organisms;
• zooplankton;
• fish;
• shellfish;
• carrion.

Birds look out for prey from above, sometimes they capture it from the surface, more often they plunge into the water column to a depth of 5-12 meters. Albatrosses hunt during the day. Following the ships, they feed on outboard garbage. On land, penguins, the remains of dead animals, enter the diet of birds.

Albatross and its prey

According to the observations different kinds albatrosses are hunted in different territories: some are near the coastline, others are far from land. For example, the wandering albatross hunts exclusively in places with a depth of at least 1000 meters. Scientists still can't figure out how birds sense depth.

Plastic debris from the water surface or landed on island sites often enters the stomachs of birds. It poses a great threat to the life of birds. Garbage is not digested, leads to a false feeling of satiety, from which the bird weakens and dies. The chicks do not ask for food, they stop growing. Environmental structures are taking active measures to clean up the territories from pollution.

Reproduction and lifespan

Albatrosses create couples once, recognize partners after long separations. The nesting period lasts up to 280 days. The search for a partner has been going on for several years. Within the pair is formed unique language gestures that help keep the family together. Birds have a beautiful mating ritual, including sorting out the feathers of a partner, turning and throwing back their heads, cackling, flapping their wings, “kissing” (grasping their beaks).

In remote places, dances, screams accompany strange, at first glance, ceremonies, so what does an albatross bird look like freakishly. The formation of bird pairs lasts about two weeks. Then albatrosses build a nest from peat or dry twigs, females lay eggs. Both parents incubate the chick, alternately replacing each other for 2.5 months.

Female royal albatross with chick

The bird sitting on the nest does not eat, does not move, loses weight. Parents feed the chick for 8-9 months, bring him food. The nesting period takes place every two years, it requires a lot of effort.

Sexual maturity comes to albatrosses at 8-9 years of age. The brown-brown color of the young is gradually replaced by snow-white clothes. On the coast, the growing chicks learn to fly and eventually master the space above the ocean.

The life expectancy of the mighty conquerors of the oceans is half a century or more. Once on the wing, amazing birds set off on a long journey with an obligatory return to their native places.

Albatrosses are considered very large and strong birds. In one day, birds fly up to 1000 km. The native home for albatrosses is the vast expanse of the ocean. They may not see land for several weeks, spending all their time above the water. As a rule, albatrosses live above the waters of three oceans from Antarctica to the southern coasts of Africa, Australia and America. The albatross is an Antarctic bird. Some species live only in the Northern Hemisphere of the planet, but many of them have also chosen the southern part of the Earth.

Appearance

by the most large species of this bird are:

• Royal albatrosses;
• Wandering albatrosses.

The length of both species reaches 130 cm, and the weight is 10 kg. The wingspan of the royal and wandering albatross reaches 340 cm. As for the females, their size is practically no different from the size of the males. The wings of birds differ in their rigidity, have an arcuate shape. The wings are long but very narrow. There is also a thickened streamlined leading edge. The beak is quite large. The tip of the beak is bent, and the edges are sharp. The nostrils are located on the sides of the beak. Such nostrils provide individuals with a very good sense of smell.

To move in the air, birds use updrafts of air reflected from the surface of the ocean. Initially, the albatross gains height, and then, on spread wings, glides over the surface, gradually descending to the surface of the water, examining it along the way. Birds descend to a height of 1 meter. At this height, they can fly 22 meters horizontally.

Albatrosses save energy thanks to the special design of the wing and planning. It is for this reason that birds can stay in the air for several hours without flapping their wings. When there is complete calm, the albatrosses are forced to flap their wings, but at this time they prefer not to fly at all. Albatrosses have always been considered a bad sign for sailors, as their appearance spoke of the approach of a storm.

To relax, albatrosses sit on the water or on the masts and decks of ships. Due to the fact that birds have very long wings, they need a run to take off. Albatrosses prefer to take off from cliffs or steep slopes.

Color

As for the color, in some species on the upper body plumage black color. The upper part of the wings is also painted in the same color. The chest of the birds is white, as are the wings on the inside. This color is characteristic of the royal albatross. He only has black feathers at the end of his wings. The rest of the plumage may not be white, but dark brown, almost black.

Juveniles can be distinguished from adult birds by the color of their plumage. The plumage takes on a different shade when the birds reach puberty, and this occurs 6-7 years after birth.

What do they eat?

Regardless of the species, whether it is a wandering albatross or a royal albatross, birds feed mainly on the following food:

In addition, representatives of these birds can also eat dead inhabitants of the waters, of which there are a lot in the expanses of the seas and oceans.

Albatrosses often nest in wake ships and ships, accompanying them for a long time, absorbing all the waste that is thrown into the sea or ocean. And if on the way the birds come across some kind of floating base for the processing of marine products, then albatrosses are ready to fly for such ships for months for several thousand miles. However, such a way of life for individuals is a common thing. After all, it is not in vain that the wandering albatross received just such a name. These birds are constantly on the move.

area

Albatrosses are considered eternal nomads. They not only do not have a permanent habitat, but they are in constant motion, capturing almost the entire planet with their flights. As mentioned earlier, such birds spend most of their lives over the ocean or sea surface far from the coast. Not seeing land for months is quite normal for these birds. Albatrosses fly at a speed of 50 km / h, sometimes their speed can reach 80 km / h. At this speed, birds can fly almost around the clock. On a day, albatrosses cover a distance of almost 1000 km. The individuals that were tagged with geolocators circled the entire planet in a month and a half, and some of them did this more than once.

An interesting fact is that, despite such a homeless life, albatrosses nest strictly in certain places. Each species has its own places for nesting:

• the Falkland Islands;
• Galapagos Islands;
• Japanese islands;
• Hawaiian Islands and many others.

Each bird always returns exactly to the place where it was born.

Studies show that individuals equip their nests at a distance of about 22 meters from the place where they themselves were born. What amazing accuracy and phenomenal topographical memory for individuals who have not seen the earth for years!

Reproduction and lifespan

Albatrosses are characterized monogamous Lifestyle. Such birds in their entire lives find only one pair for themselves and remain faithful to their chosen one until the end of their days. As mentioned earlier, maturation in individuals begins at 6-7 years of their life, so they begin to start families at the onset of this age. It happens that birds are looking for a mate for several years. The process of courting a female is very interesting. When meeting, the males perform a kind of mating dance in front of their companion. This courtship can last for several days.

If the female liked the male, then they spend some more time at the place of their acquaintance, and then they go to a desert island and begin to justify their future home, building nests from grass and moss.

Female Albatross lays only one egg, which they incubate in turn. The birds change among themselves, as a rule, every 2-3 weeks. It takes quite a long time to incubate an egg. The chick is born only at 75-80 days. For this reason, albatrosses lose up to 20% of their mass during the entire incubation.

The growth of the chick is very slow. For the first three weeks, the parents feed him every day, and then only once every few days. The birds take care of their offspring for a whole year, until the chick gets stronger and is able to get its own food on its own.

That's why marriage period in birds happens no more than once every 2-3 years. In some cases even less often. However, no matter how long the break takes, every autumn the male flies to the island and waits there for his chosen one, who, as a rule, arrives a little later. This is how the family life of these unusual birds continues. If one of them does not arrive on the island, then the second remains alone until the end of his life. Their union is so strong.

The lifespan of wandering albatrosses and other species is approximately 50 years.

Enemies

It is worth noting that the mortality of these birds is low. Above the open ocean or sea surface, birds are practically not threatened. Danger can arise only during the mating season, when the birds nest. But this happens very rarely. As a rule, predators do not live on islands where pairs nest. The threat can only appear from:

• Rats, which are most often brought by people to uninhabited land;
• From feral cats, which are also left here by people.

These enemies can attack both parents and small chicks.

In the last century, the greatest threat to birds was man. People mercilessly exterminated such birds for the sake of feathers, which were used to decorate ladies' hats. Currently, almost all species of albatrosses are protected by the World Conservation Union.

Albatross - there is not a single person in the world who has not heard this bewitching word. From him, as if breathes the coolness of the ocean waves, calling to distant wanderings.

Indeed, the albatross is tightly connected with the ocean, without ocean expanses, he simply cannot live, his elements are air and water.

Albatross is the largest flying bird in the world. The wingspan reaches 3.5 meters, and the body length is 1.3 meters. Wandering or royal albatross - this is how this bird was called.

Description

The albatross has no equal among the entire feathered tribe in terms of wingspan, except that only some prehistoric flying lizards had wings of this magnitude.

The appearance of the albatross is simply magnificent. A large head with a large, hooked beak at the end, planted on a powerful neck, monolithically merges with a large rounded torso, giving out remarkable strength. The graceful coloring of the plumage, as it were, emphasizes its individuality. The plumage of adult birds is very diverse. More often it is a white head, neck and chest, and the back and outer part of the wings are dark. But there are also those whose feathers are mostly dark brown, and on the chest there is a dark brown stripe. The male royal albatross has a dazzling white plumage, and only the edges and tips of the wings are dark. The wingspan reaches 3.7 meters, and the body length is 1.3 meters.

There are also so-called black-footed albatrosses, dark-backed smoky and light-backed smoky. Their plumage is almost entirely dark gray or dark brown.

Usually, young birds differ in appearance from adult albatrosses, their color changes from year to year and becomes stable somewhere in the sixth or seventh year of life.

Some species do not have spots around the eyes, and sometimes you can see yellow or gray spots on the back of the head. It happens that the head is completely yellow, and the beak is pink.

The beak of albatrosses is large, with sharp edges, able to firmly hold even large prey. It has a very interesting structure. It consists of peculiar horny plates, and on the sides there are tubes - nostrils. This is most likely due to the fact that they have a very keen sense of smell, thanks to which they can find food, although their eyesight is excellent.

Most of the petrel birds have poorly developed legs, and they hardly move on land. The albatross does not have this drawback, it has strong paws and can perfectly walk on foot. Its paws are somewhat reminiscent of goose. They have only three fingers connected by membranes, making it possible to row in the water like oars. There is no back toe.

Lifestyle

Albatross on the sea feels great in any weather. On the water, the largest bird in the world is held like a float, thanks to its airy, waterproof plumage. Very often, the albatross may not go out on land for several weeks, he even sleeps on the water.

Huge wings give him the opportunity to stay in the air, almost without flapping, but using the power of the wind, like a glider. He has a very interesting flight technique. It flies by making periodic descents, during which it picks up speed, and then soars up on the oncoming air flow, while not even flapping its wings, but only changing the angle of their inclination. Usually the albatross does not rise high into the sky, he tries to stay about 10-15 meters from the water, since at this height the most powerful air flow. Thanks to this method, he can soar over the waves for a long time, almost without moving his wings.

However, with such huge wings, it is not always convenient for an albatross to take off. Windless weather on land or calm at sea is a disastrous thing for him. In such weather, he is forced to simply sway on the waves to doze in anticipation of a breath of wind. On land, he deliberately chooses a place on the coastal slope, much like paragliders do.

Albatross species

amsterdam, lat. Diomedea amsterdamensis. The wingspan of this albatross is more than 3 meters, the body length reaches 120 cm, and the weight is up to 8 kg. They live on the Amsterdam Islands, in the south of the Indian Ocean. This species of albatross is endangered. There are only a few dozen of them.

Royal, lat. Diomedea epomophora. The body length of this bird is within 110 - 120 cm, the wingspan is from 280 to 320 cm, the weight does not exceed 8 kg. The main habitat of the royal albatross is New Zealand and nearby islands. The average lifespan of the royal albatross is 58 years.

Wandering, lat. Diomedea exulans. The wingspan of this species of albatrosses is greater than that of all other species and reaches 370 centimeters. Body length up to 130. Thanks to their huge wings, wandering albatrosses can fly the farthest. Their nesting sites are the subantarctic islands: Crozet, South Georgia, Kerguelen, Antipodes and Macquarie. They live for about 30 years, but there were also 50-year-olds.

Tristansky, lat. Diomedea dabbenena. Outwardly, the Tristan albatross looks like a wandering albatross, and for a long time they were attributed to the same species. The only difference is that the Tristan is slightly smaller than the wanderer in size, and in young animals the plumage is a little darker, besides, it takes longer to become white. Tristan albatrosses live in the Tristan da Cunha archipelago. The number of about two and a half thousand pairs.

Galapagos, lat. Phoebastria irrorata. The second name of this bird is the wavy albatross. Body about 80 cm, weight within 2 kg. The wingspan is up to 240 cm. The Galapagos albatross is the only one of all albatross birds that does not live in the cold Antarctic, but in the hot tropics. Nesting place - Galapagos archipelago, Hispaniola island. After brooding, these albatrosses stay along the coasts of Ecuador and Peru.

Blackfoot, lat. Phoebastria nigripes. A bird with a wingspan of about 1.8 m. Body length 68-74 cm. Life expectancy: up to 50 years. Nesting places - Hawaiian Islands and Torishima Islands. Sometimes, following fishing vessels and feeding on food waste dumped from them, they fly to the Bering and Okhotsk Seas.

Lat. Thalassarche bulleri. It grows up to 81 cm in length. The wingspan is up to 215 cm, and the weight is up to 3.3 kg. The bird species Buller's albatross is named after Walter Buller, a New Zealand ornithologist. Nesting sites are Solander, Chatham and Snares Islands. Between nestings they live in the New Zealand region, sometimes found in the eastern Pacific Ocean near the coast of Chile.

dark-backed smoky, lat. Phoebetria fusca. It grows up to 89 cm. The wingspan is about 2 meters. Weight up to 3 kg. It lives in the south of the Indian and Atlantic oceans. Dark-backed sooty albatrosses nest on the Prince Edward Islands, Tristan da Cunha, Gough. Their small colonies are found on the islands of Amsterdam, Saint-Paul, Crozet and Kerguelen. Outside of the nesting period, the dark-backed sooty albatross wanders in the waters of the Indian Ocean at latitudes from 30° to 64°.

light back smoky, lat. Phoebetria palpebrata. Bird up to 80 cm long. Wingspan up to 2.2 m. Bird weight up to 3.5 kg. Breeds on many islands in the Southern Ocean: Amsterdam, Campbell, Auckland, South Georgia, Crozet, Kerguelen, Macquarie, Prince Edward, St. Paul, Antipode Islands, Heard Island and McDonald Islands. It travels throughout the Southern Ocean. Lives up to forty years.

black-browed, lat. Thalassarche melanophrys. A bird with a body size of up to 80-95 cm, a wingspan of up to 2.5 m and a weight of up to 3.5 kg. Nesting place - the coastal strip of the Auckland Islands, South Georgia and Tristan da Cunha. The colony has more than 170 thousand pairs. One of the long-lived albatrosses, lives up to 70 years. Between nesting seasons, Black-browed albatrosses are found throughout the southern Indian, Atlantic, and Pacific regions.

grey-headed, lat. Thalassarche chrysostoma. The bird is 81 cm long and has a wingspan of 2 meters. Breeds on many islands in the Southern Ocean: South Georgia, Kerguelen, Diego Ramirez, Crozet, Prince Edward, Campbell and Macquarie, on islands off the coast of Chile. They live in the waters of the Antarctic seas, sometimes they fly into subtropical waters. Young grey-headed albatrosses roam the entire Southern Ocean up to 35 degrees south latitude. The grey-headed albatross is considered one of the most fast birds. In level flight, it can reach speeds of more than 100 km / h and fly at that speed for a very long time. During a storm in 2004, a grey-headed albatross was recorded flying back to its nest for eight hours at a speed of 127 km/h. This is the absolute speed record for birds in horizontal flight listed in the Guinness Book of Records.

yellow-billed, lat. Thalassarche chlororhynchos or Atlantic yellow-nosed albatross. The body length of this bird is up to 80 cm and the wingspan is about 2.5 meters. Nesting places of the island Impregnable, Tristan da Cunha, Nightingale, Middle, Stoltenhof, Gof. Usually fly over the waters of the Atlantic Ocean from 15 to 45 degrees south latitude between Africa and South America.

You can see albatrosses, these beautiful and proud birds, in many seas and oceans of the globe. And it is not surprising, because albatrosses are solitary birds and the wind of wandering drives them around the globe. And although they spend most of their lives on water and in the air, they return to land to procreate. Sailors have long believed that albatrosses are inhabited by the souls of dead sailors, and therefore if someone dares to kill this bird, he will certainly be punished.

Where do albatrosses live?

The homeland for albatrosses is Antarctica and the islands surrounding it. But there these birds do not live permanently, but only nest. For the rest of the time, albatrosses fly several thousand miles from their native shores, but wherever they wander, once a year they return home, where they find their mate and hatch their chicks. While the chick is growing, both parents raise and feed it. And as soon as the young albatross takes to the wing, the couple breaks up and everyone flies about their own business. But a year later they return, and if they are both alive and well, then they will definitely converge again, continuing their lineage.

Young birds also do not stay in place. At first they live near their birthplace, and when they grow up, they go to explore the ocean expanses. Usually they are attached behind passing ocean tourist liners, fishing trawlers or fish-processing floating bases from which waste from the processing of fish products is dumped into the sea, serving them as food. So following these ships, they fly thousands of miles, sometimes even to the northern hemisphere.

But wherever they are, with the onset of spring they fly to their homeland. How they find their way home is still a mystery, but they fly exactly to the place where they were born. There, albatrosses pick up a mate and start a family. The cycle of life continues.

Migratory albatrosses also live in the Northern Hemisphere. True, they do not move into the coldest parts of it, remaining in the more familiar climate of temperate latitudes. Representatives of the genus Phoebastria create their colonies on islands from Alaska and Japan up to the Hawaiian Islands.

A unique species nests on the Galapagos Islands - the Galapagos. There are frequent calms and calm at the equator, which makes it impossible to overcome the majority of albatrosses with a weak ability to actively fly, and the Galapagos flies freely there, using the winds of the cold Humboldt ocean current, and feeds where its other relatives simply cannot fly.

What do they eat?

Albatrosses feed mainly on fish, not large squids or octopuses, krill, all kinds of crustaceans that the waves throw to the surface of the sea. Seeing prey from the air in the water, fish, squid or octopus, the albatross dives down and crashes into the water with an arrow, piercing the water column sometimes to a depth of 10 meters, grabs the prey and emerges to the surface of the water.

But they can eat not only living food, they do not disdain the dead inhabitants of the waters, of which there are quite a lot in the expanses of the seas and oceans. In places of accumulation of fish, even with many other birds flocked to feed, the albatross feels like a master, because only a giant petrel can resist it.

Quite often, they attach themselves to the wake of ocean-going ships and accompany them for a long time, eating all the waste that is thrown into the sea. And if they come across floating bases for fish processing, then on such floating bases many albatrosses stand up for allowances for several months and fly away after these ships many thousands of miles from their home. But for the albatross, this is a normal way of life, these wandering birds are constantly on the go.

reproduction

During the breeding season, albatrosses organize so-called colonies, where hundreds or even thousands of pairs gather at the same time quite peacefully coexisting side by side. They lead a monogamous lifestyle, find a mate only once and remain faithful until the end of their lives. They become adults capable of starting a family at the age of 6 and begin to look for a mate. It happens that it takes not one year, but two or even several years. But when the couple decided, they begin to get to know each other better. It is very interesting to observe the process of courtship, when during the acquaintance albatrosses perform a kind of mating dance. This may continue for several days.

If the male likes the female, then they spend some time at the place of acquaintance, and then they choose one of the uninhabited Antarctic islands and justify their home there, building a nest from moss and grass. The female albatross carries only one egg, which they incubate in turn, changing every 2-3 weeks. It takes quite a long time to incubate, the chick hatches only after 75-80 days, therefore, during incubation, both parents lose up to 15-17% of their weight. By the way, albatrosses are not at all afraid of people; they let them near the cub without showing aggression.

The chick grows relatively slowly, parents feed him daily for the first three weeks, and then once every few days. In general, caring for a chick lasts almost a whole year, until it gets stronger and begins to get its own food on its own. Therefore, albatrosses have a mating season every two years, sometimes less often. But no matter how much time passes, in autumn the male flies to the same island and waits there for the female, who usually arrives a little later. Family life continues. But if one of the couple does not arrive, then the second one remains alone until the end of his days, their union is so strong.

Albatross

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Wandering albatross- the most magnificent of modern birds. Its wingspan reaches more than three meters, and it rightfully deserves the title of a master of soaring flight. Able to glide for hours on the turbulent currents of ocean air and deftly use hurricane winds, he has long aroused superstitious reverence among sailors. If the wind suddenly subsides, the albatross willy-nilly, having ceased to plan, flies, flapping its wings heavily.

In calm, when there is complete calm, the albatross cannot rise from the water at all. That is why albatrosses live in the southern hemisphere, where strong storm winds blow all year round. It is very difficult for albatrosses to migrate north. After all, in the equator zone, across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, there is a calm strip - an almost insurmountable barrier for these birds in the Atlantic. However, in the Pacific Ocean, 3 out of 13 albatross species managed to move north. One species breeds on islands near Japan, and the other two nest on the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles.

Not so long ago, people treated albatrosses with complete contempt. Their name, derived from the Portuguese word "aotkatros" means "big". English sailors often replaced this name with an insulting nickname - "beanie" or "fool-sika", naming birds like that because albatrosses often fell on baited hooks that sailors threw from moving ships.

The most unpleasant human encounter with albatrosses happened during World War II at a US air force base on one of the Midway Islands in the Pacific Ocean. On this island, a huge number of dark-backed albatrosses constantly collided with combat aircraft. In this case, albatrosses mainly suffered. They tried to drive the birds off the island for a long time. They fired at signal and lighting rockets, used all kinds of chemical means, but it was all in vain. In the end, on the advice of scientists, the military went to the trick. The dunes around the runways were flattened, which weakened the vertical air currents. Now albatrosses simply could not take off near planes. Currently, albatrosses and planes peacefully coexist, occupying various parts of the island.

Albatrosses belong to the trumpet-nosed order. In birds of this order, the beak consists of separate shields, and the nostrils are enclosed in horny tubes. As a rule, albatrosses come to land only for nesting. Young birds spend more than 2 years at sea before the onset of the first mating season. All this time they wander over the sea, and rest and sleep right on the water. Albatrosses lay only one egg. After 60-80 days of incubation, a chick appears from the egg. For the first 10-11 weeks of his life, he eats fish that his parents bring him.