Biology
The albatrosses are birds with large wings, which measure more than 3 meters. They can achieve a long distance due the way of flight and some species can fly around the world in 46 days.
Their three toes are joined with a membrane. This characteristic allows them to swim and to slide over the water easily.
The colour of their feathers is generally white and black with dark gray tones. Their beak has two tubes on each side, where the accumulated salt can come out.
They look for food on the surface of the water or dive; its preys are squids, fishes and other small animals of the sea.
Some albatrosses species live more than 50 years; breeding when are completely mature sometimes at the age of 12 years.
These seabirds make courtship in order to find a partner: cleaning the feathers, moving wings and beak, staring at a fixed point, among other movements.
The albatrosses lay one egg. Both parents care the offspring, incubating the egg and taking care of the chick (protection and nutrition). From laying until the chick gets its first feathers take more than one year. Although the parents take care of chicks, in some cases chicks die because of illness, malnutrition, accidents, among others. In this case, the albatrosses will wait for the next year to try again to bring up a chick.
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