Wandering Albatross

Quick Take

• The wandering albatross holds a wingspan record, though the number most people cite may not be the real one. See the wingspan record →
• Its scientific name translates to something unexpectedly dark, which perfectly describes how this bird lives. Explore the dark meaning →
• These birds can eat so much that they lose one of their most essential abilities, and this is no accident. Discover the overeating effect →
• During mating, this typically silent bird becomes something completely unrecognizable, and the sounds it makes will surprise you. Hear about mating calls →

The wandering albatross lives mostly on the wing above the world’s southern seas. As one of the largest living birds, 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 is capable of flying thousands of miles each year, with individuals sometimes traveling over 10,000 miles without returning to land.

Classification and Scientific Name

The scientific name of this sea bird is Diomedea exulans. The word “Diomedea” 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 feed.

The wandering albatross is classified in the order Procellariiformes and the family Diomedeidae.

Appearance

One way to tell a wandering albatross from other types of albatross is its plumage. It is whiter overall. 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 triangular. 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 between 14 and 26 pounds, although some males may reach weights up to 28 pounds.

The wingspan is the wandering albatross’s most distinctive feature, wider than that of any other bird, ranging from 8.2 to 11.5 feet on average. The largest verified wingspan recorded for this species is 12 feet 2 inches.

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 albatrosses associate with others of their kind is to feed on the waste from fishing boats. Then, they form a flock and compete for the spoils.

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 South 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.

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.

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 albatrosses have no natural predators. Human activities have made the species vulnerable from a conservation viewpoint, however. Longline commercial fishing kills large numbers of these birds annually, while pollution and overfishing further reduce their food supply.

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 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 albatrosses are long-lived birds. The oldest recorded wandering albatross was 46 years old as of 2023.

Population

As of 2018, the wandering albatross population was an estimated 20,100, of which just over 8,000 were breeding pairs. Since then, their numbers have been dwindling due to commercial fishing activity. Currently, only about 20,000 remain, keeping the wandering albatross on the vulnerable species list.