Amazing bird that haven't touched the ground for years
Albatrosses, The Amazing bird that haven't touched the ground for years
If you happened to visit the North Pacific Ocean, such as Kamchatka or the Kuril Islands, and you saw large birds flying over the sea, often flying parallel to the ship along with gulls, consider yourself lucky - you saw albatrosses.
In the old days, it was believed that meeting an albatross would bring wealth, and killing an albatross would bring misfortune. Sailors considered these birds to be the souls of dead sailors.
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What kind of birds are these that many people have heard about, but few have seen?
The name of the bird "albatross" comes from the Arabic al-câdous or al -aaţţās, which means "diver"in translation
Carl Linnaeus, describing the birds, gave them the Latin name Diomedea, in honor of the mythical ancient Greek warrior Diomedes, who took part in the Trojan War.
Carl Linnaeus, describing the birds, gave them the Latin name Diomedea, in honor of the mythical ancient Greek warrior Diomedes, who took part in the Trojan War.
Ornithologists distinguish between 21-22 species of albatrosses. The smallest is the blackfeet. The largest are the wandering, Royal and Amsterdam albatrosses with a wingspan of up to 3.5 meters!
Albatrosses belong to the order pipefish. The tubes run through the entire beak and lead to the olfactory organs. The sense of smell in albatrosses is very well developed, which is rare for birds. In some albatross species, the tubes play a dual role, allowing you to breathe through one and squeeze out sea salt through the other.
Albatrosses are flying champions. Satellite tracking of birds has shown that the albatross flies around the globe in less than two months.
The average flight speed of an albatross is 50 km/h, the maximum is 80 km/h. An adult bird can fly 800-1000 km per day.
In the Guinness Book of World Records in 2004, a gray-headed albatross was entered, which developed a horizontal flight speed of 127 km/h, with which it flew for more than 8 hours.
Albatrosses in flight use the lifting force of air currents reflected from the waves. This bird can fly for 6 days without ever flapping its wings. The only time an albatross needs flapping is when it takes off.
Albatrosses sleep down on the water.
Albatrosses are nomadic birds, they are not tied to anything except the place of their birth, where they return every 2-3 years to lay eggs and raise offspring.
Sexual maturity in albatrosses occurs by 4-5 years, but they create a pair only at the age of 9-10 years.
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Albatrosses are monogamous. A couple is created once and for life. Before creating a pair, young male albatrosses learn a special ritual dance from their elders, which consists of coordinated movements, beak clicks, plumage cleaning and singing, among other sounds.
It takes several years for albatrosses to form a pair.
In the future, the couple develops their own "language", understandable only to them.
With the construction of nests albatrosses do not bother much. Most often, the nest of these birds resembles a mound of grass and mud on rocks.
Albatrosses nest in colonies and in places where there are no mammals. The fact is that when the chick hatches, the parents can fly away for food over long distances, leaving the cub unattended for several days. If land predators live near the colony, then the chick will not have a chance to survive.
A female albatross lays only 1 egg. Both birds hatch the clutch in turn for 80 days. This is a record for the longest incubation period among birds.
On average, a couple raises 5-6 chicks in their lifetime.
The chick lives in the parent nest for the first 9 months of its life
After the chick learns to fly, it does not touch the ground for several years until the pair is formed.
Albatrosses are long-lived birds, they can live up to 50 years or more.
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