ALBATROSS

Petrels have mastered the dangerous Antarctic oceans. The biggest and most famous is the wandering Albatross. Scientists and experts think that it spends several years travelling the oceans without coming back to land.

They are about 20 different species of Albatross.

The great oceans at Antarctic are very rich in food.  Therefore any bird is able to find a good supply of food. The reason for the great supply is the upwelling currents from the very deep oceanbed bringing nutrients with it. These are feeding plankton which is food for crustaceans, fish and squid. They will then be eaten by seals, dolphins and whales. 

This food chain provides problems for birds. The food supply could be hundreds of kilometres out at sea. Also the feeding areas change from season to season. Furthermore these seas are stormy, windswept and cold. The biggest problem is that nesting places are few and far apart. Only two species of birds have overcome all the danger of the harsh environment. They are the petrels and penguins.

FAMOUS FLIGHT OF THE ALBATROSS

The biggest species of the petrels is the wandering Albatross. To be able to travel long-distance over the oceans it evolved to long slender wings which have a total span of f3.5m. It looks more like a glider aircraft. With this adaptation it is able to ride the winds close to the sea with the least effort.  When it glides with the wind behind it slowly loses height until it is close over the waves. At that point the wind is less because of the friction between the wind and the sea. It would then turn to use the wind to be lifted.  The albatross often looks as if it ascents almost vertically. The reason for it is the higher it glides the stronger is the wind

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When it is at the required height it turns down-wind and glides effortless onto another long-distance journey. It had been seen that the albatross travels in a looping flightpath.

The albatross’s peak looks like two bony plates. The nostrils are enclosed in short tubes. It is thought that the bird uses this to find the tiniest variation of air pressure which enables it to judge and use the best use of the power of the wind.

This dynamic soaring helps the albatross to travel great distances without one wingbeat.  This evolution gives the bird the chance to eat less. Other birds use a lot of energy flapping their wings. The albatross also can eat fish and squid which are too big for other birds. Therefore it has less competition.

However, the albatross has also its limitation. It cannot fly when there is no wind. Its wings are too big to flap for too long. It can only do it for a very short while. Another disadvantage it has that it can only nest on coasts where it can take off with jumping from a handy cliff. When it lands on a windswept slope it opens its wings and is lifted into air.

On the ground it is a very clumsy bird. It had been seen to vomit its stomach oil to have a better take-off.

BREEDING

The albatross show very little differences between the two sexes. The female of the wandering albatross has ore dark marking but the male is pure white but for the black tips on its wings.

The wandering albatross displays an elaborate courtship with bowing and wing flapping of both sexes. They will continue this right through their breeding season.

The wandering albatross covers right across the southern oceans. It breeds only on a dozen of islands. They form there big colonies. It builds a large mount of soil or vegetation. On the top it makes a nest cup.  The nests are well spaced out and there is not trouble with the neighbours.  It is surprisingly that only one egg is laid at midsummer in December or January. It will be incubated for about three and half months. The adults taking it in turn and occupy the nest for about 20 days each time.

When the chick is hatched it is protected by one parent while the other finds food. After a while both parents leave the nest and the chick waits for their return. A healthy chick will often be left for up to a month without food. This is necessary because the food supply could hundred of kilometres away. For this reason growth is slow and it takes till the next summer when the youngster can leave the nest.

This the moment when danger lurks from predators such as skuas. It was reported that in one year the skuas and giant fulmars have killed 95 out of a 100 chicks on Gough Island in the South Atlantic.

The parents will not breed again till the following year. Albatross mate for life. It is thought that they might not see each other in the mean time. Then they will meet again at the old nest site a year later, unless one of them died.

The young bird spent several years at sea. It could return to its birthplace or join another colony and begin its courtship. This could mean that the young bird could be either seven or up to ten years old.  It is now skilled enough to find food and therefore able to look after its youngster.

SWIMMING

The albatross can swim well because it has webbed feet.  It bobs on top of the water and mostly feeds at night because fish rise to the top where it catches it with its powerful peak. When they have to feed a chick the adult half digest the food. This changes it into fish oil and it will carry most of the nutrients while the bird has to cover the great distant. 

CONSERVATION

The earliest sailor thought the albatross were the soul of dead sailors. The idea came from when they saw the bird travelling effortless in or above stormy weather way out at sea. This belief prevented sailors to kill it because they also thought it would bring bad luck. In spite of that great fear they still killed many for meat and the feathers. Albatross have no fear of man and therefore it was easy to catch them. It reduced great their number but now the nesting sites are under protection.  The new danger is now from over-fishing by many nations going into the Antarctic waters.