Albatross Galapagos Birds

These giant birds have the longest wingspan of any bird, up to 11 feet (3.4 meters)! The wandering albatross is the biggest of some two dozen different species.

Albatrosses use their formidable wingspans to ride the ocean winds and sometimes to glide for hours without rest or even a flap of their wings.

They also float on the sea's surface, though the position makes them vulnerable to aquatic predators. Albatross birds drink salt water, as do some other sea birds.

Albatross Galapagos birds can grow to measure 34 inches in length. Galapagos waved albatrosses are distinctive for their yellowish-cream neck and head, which contrasts with their mostly brownish bodies.

Even more distinctive is their very long, bright yellow bill, which looks disproportionately large in comparison to the relatively small head and long, slender neck.

See the Best Galapagos Cruises Available to Visit These Islands

The body plumage is mostly a chestnut-brown, with a whitish breast and under-wing. Its feet are bluish. Juveniles differ slightly from adults by having a whiter head and a duller bill.

On the ground they walk with a waddle and appear to be very clumsy, but in the air, they are one of the most graceful birds you could ever see.

Albatross Galapagos birds are extremely loyal birds to each other whereby when a male finds a female mating partner, they will stay together and raise their chicks until one of them dies.

The primary food sources of the Waved Albatross are fish, squid and crustaceans. But they have also been observed to scavenge for other food sources, including the regurgitated food of other birds.

The albatross bird has also been seen stealing food from other birds, such as Galapagos Boobies a feeding strategy that is called kleptoparasitism.

The Waved albatross (Phoebastria irrorata) also known as galapagos albatross, is the only member of the Diomedeidae family located in the tropics.

The waved albatross breeds on Espanola Island in the Galapagos Islands, and possibly also on Isla de la Plata, off the coast of Ecuador.

Albatross Galapagos Courtship Ritual

A pair of Galapagos albatross will lay one egg in a depression on bare ground between April and June, where it is incubated for almost two months.

The newly hatched chicks have blackish-brown down, and after two weeks they are left in nursery groups while the parents go fishing and return to feed them pre-digested oily fish liquid.

Around January of each year when the chick have fledged, they leave their nurseries and fly with their parents to the West Pacific.

The parents do return each year to Espanola Island to mate, but the young stay away for five to six years feeding and scavenging until they are ready to begin breeding for the first time.

After this time, they will return to the Galapagos Island to find a mate and breed. Albatross Galapagos birds can live for up to 30 years.

The word Albatross is derived from the Spanish or Portuguese word Alcatraz, which means Pelican or Strange Bird. The word is of Arabic origin, "al-gattas", which means the diver.

Albatross birds are part of the biological family of Diomedeidae, order Procellariiformes which means "the tubenoses". The population of Albatross Galapagos birds are protected by the Galapagos National Park

Galapagos Recommended Reading

Galapagos: A Natural History
This is an attractive and comprehensive guidebook. You will find an easy-to-use text which details the natural history of the plants and animals found in the Galapagos Islands. (This book is the "Bible" for all travelers to the Galapagos)

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