Albatrosses - Flight And Navigation, Salt Regulation, Courtship Rituals, Care Of The Young, Conservation
found smell birds
Albatrosses are large, long-lived seabirds in the family Diomedeidae, which contains about 13 species. They are found primarily in the oceans of the Southern Hemisphere. Albatrosses are superb fliers, and may be found far from land, soaring with their wings set in a characteristic bowed position. Together with petrels, shearwaters, and fulmars, albatrosses are grouped in the order Procellariformes, which includes hook-billed sea birds commonly known as tubenoses. The extremely large nostrils on top of the bill lead to a pair of internal tubes, connected to a highly developed olfactory center in the brain. Thus, unlike most other birds, albatrosses possess a keen sense of smell; some biologists think that albatrosses can locate other individuals, food, and breeding and nesting areas by smell alone.
Two waved albatrosses. JLM Visuals. Reproduced by permission.
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Albatrosses in flight are soaring birds, "floating" on the air for extended periods without flapping their wings. They have the greatest wingspan of any bird; the wingspan of the wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans) may reach 12 ft (3.7 m). The slender wings of albatrosses have a large aspect ratio, that is, a high ratio of wing length to wing width. This characteristic minimizes d…
Albatross courtship is unique among seabirds, both in its complexity and its duration. Males and females engage in a coordinated "dancing" display, in which the partners face one another and perform stereotyped and often synchronized behaviors such as bill "clappering" (in which the bill is quickly opened and closed repeatedly); "sky calling" (in which the…
In many parts of the range, albatrosses are suffering extensive mortality through their interaction with fishing fleets. The most intense damage is associated with socalled by-catch mortality in long-lining, in which baited hooks are strung out for several kilometers behind fishing boats. Albatrosses are attracted to the bait on the long-lines, but become caught on the hooks and drown. Because alb…
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