Wandering Albatross

“The Wandering Albatross has the widest wingspan of any living bird”

The wandering albatross lives mostly on the wing above the world’s southern seas. As one of the largest birds living, it has been the subject of numerous studies. As a result, researchers have compiled an extensive list of facts about the species. Although the average wingspan of the wandering albatross is about 10 feet from wingtip to wingtip, unverified accounts report measurements up to 17 feet, 5 inches.

5 Incredible Wandering Albatross Facts!

• It has the largest wingspan of any bird on earth and can soar for hours without flapping its wings.
• Juveniles have brown plumage, which changes to white as they mature.
• The wandering albatross has a salt gland just above its bill, which helps it shed some of the sea salt it takes in.
• This large bird spends most of its time flying, and it lands only to breed and eat.
• The wandering albatross flies approximately 120,000 kilometers (75,000 miles) each year.

Wandering Albatross Scientific Name

The scientific name of this sea bird is Diomedea exulans. The word “diomedia” describes the genus of great albatrosses. “Exulans” derives from the Latin root “exul,” which means exile. Thus, the wandering albatross is largely a solitary bird, only joining others of its kind to mate and eat.

The taxonomy for the wandering albatross is as follows:

• Phylum: Chordata
• Class: Aves
• Order: Procellariiforms
• Family: Diomedeidae
• Genus: Diomedea
• Species: D. exulans

The wandering albatross is one of several species in the Diomedea genus, which also includes:

• Diomedea antipodensis, or the Antipodean albatross
• Diomedea amsterdamensis, or the Amsterdam albatross
• Diomedea dabbenea, or the Tristan albatross
• Diomedea sanfordi, or the Northern royal albatross
• Diomedea epomorphora, or the Southern royal albatross

Wandering Albatross Appearance

One way to tell a wandering albatross from other types of albatross is its plumage. It is whiter allover. This distinction has inspired the alternative names snowy albatross and white-winged albatross for this light-colored bird. It has a white head, neck, and body with a bit of black along the wings. Males are whiter than females.

The tail is shaped like a triangle. This bird has a large pink bill that curves to a downward hook at the end. Its feet are also pink. Often, a snowy albatross will have pinkish-yellow stains on its neck from the highly saline secretions flowing from its salt gland. Young wandering albatrosses have darker feathers, which whiten as they mature.

The average male is about 4 feet from beak to tail. Females tend to be smaller, averaging 3.5 feet in length. Typically, these birds weigh in between 14 and 26 pounds, although some males may reach weights up to 28 pounds.

Their wingspan is the most distinctive feature of the wandering albatross’s appearance. It is wider than that of any other bird. It ranges from 2.5 to 3.5 meters (8 feet 3 inches to 9 ft 20 inches) on average. The largest verified wingspan recorded for this species is 3.7 meters (12 feet 2 inches).

Wandering Albatross Behavior

When hunting for food, these snowy birds can make shallow dives to scoop up their prey, although they prefer surface fishing. They will also feed on floating debris, and they will follow ships to eat the garbage thrown overboard.

Although typically silent while in flight, white-winged albatrosses vocalize in several different ways when they are wooing their mates. They trumpet shrilly, groan, rattle, whistle and cluck. They rap their bills against each other and make braying sounds. During the biennial mating ritual, they may also expand their wings and weave their heads back and forth.

The only other times these goonies associate with other albatrosses is to feed on the waste from fishing boats. Then, they form a flock and compete for the spoils.

Wandering Albatross Habitat

The wandering albatross calls the infinite sky its habitat, and it spends the greater part of its 50-year lifespan soaring above the seas and islands of the Southern Hemisphere. Its habitat includes the waters around New Zealand and Australia, Antarctica and Africa. The North Atlantic Ocean is the only sea where the wandering albatross does not range.

Once snowy albatross fledglings leave the nest, they remain at sea for up to 10 years before returning to their home turf to breed. These large birds breed on such south sea islands as Southern Georgia in the South Atlantic, the Indian Ocean’s Crozet Islands, Iles Kerguelen near Antarctica, Macquarie Island south of Australia, and New Zealand’s Campbell and Snares islands.

Wandering Albatross Diet

Goonies subsist largely on a diet of fish, cephalopods, and crustaceans. These include squid and shrimp. The snowy birds hunt in deeper waters than other albatross species, further out to sea. They will eat phytoplankton, offal, carrion, and garbage too. When possible, goonies will overeat to the point that they cannot take flight, stranded for a time floating on the waves.

Wandering Albatross Predators and Threats

Albatross eggs and chicks are most at risk from winged predators, chiefly skuas and sheathbills. Imported domestic animals like pigs, goats and cats also eat the eggs and the chicks.

Adult wandering albatross have no natural predators. Human activities have made the species vulnerable from a conservation viewpoint, however. Longline commercial fishing kills large numbers of these white-winged birds annually. Pollution and overfishing reduce their food supply.

Wandering Albatross Reproduction and Life Cycle

Wandering albatrosses mate every two years between December and February, beginning when they are between 11 and 15 years old. They will keep the same mate for life.

Each breeding pair mates on dry land, on one of the islands within their range. The female lays a single spotted white egg, which is about 10 centimeters (just under 4 inches) in length. Both parents alternate sitting on the nest. The egg hatches in 11 weeks or so. The parents will return to the nest to feed their chick with oils from their digested food.

As the baby reaches 4 to 5 weeks of age, parents return less often, until at 7-8 months, the chick is ready to leave the nest. It will not return to the nesting site for several years until it is ready to mate.

Wandering albatross are long-lived birds. Their lifespan is up to 50 years. One banded bird under study was well over that age when last sighted.

Wandering Albatross Population

As of 2007, the wandering albatross population was an estimated 25,500, of which just over 8,000 consisted of breeding pairs. Since then, their numbers have been dwindling due to commercial fishing activity. Currently, only about 20,000 of these goonie birds remain. As a result, the wandering albatross is on the vulnerable species list.

1. Wikipedia, Available here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wandering_albatross
2. Australian Antartic Program, Available here: https://www.antarctica.gov.au/about-antarctica/animals/flying-birds/wandering-albatross/
3. Oceanwide Expeditions, Available here: https://oceanwide-expeditions.com/to-do/wildlife/wandering-albatross
4. New Zealand Birds Online, Available here: http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/wandering-albatross
5. Green Peace, Available here: https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/oceans/wildlife-facts/albatross/
6. Cool Antarctica, Available here: https://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/wildlife/wandering-albatross.php
7. J. Cooper , H. Battam , C. Loves , P. J. Milburn & L. E. Smith (2003) The Oldest Known Banded Wandering Albatross Diomedea Exulans at the Prince Edward Islands (1970) African Journal of Marine Science, 25:1, 525-527.
8. Data Zone, Available here: http://datazone.birdlife.org/sowb/casestudy/many-albatross-species-are-in-alarming-slow-decline
9. Animalia, Available here: http://animalia.bio/wandering-albatross
10. Independent, Available here: https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/how-unflappable-albatross-can-travel-10-000-miles-single-journey-8945618.html