Search results
The name "Albatross" is derived from the Arabic al-qādūs or al-ḡaṭṭās (a pelican; literally, "the diver"), which travelled to English via the Portuguese form Alcatraz ("gannet"), which is also the origin of the name of the former prison Alcatraz.The Oxford English Dictionary notes that the word Alcatraz was originally applied to the frigatebird; the modification to albatross was ...
An albatross aloft can be a spectacular sight. These feathered giants have the longest wingspan of any bird—up to 11 feet! The wandering albatross is the biggest of some two dozen different species.
May 31, 2024 · An albatross is a large, magnificent seabird capable of soaring incredible distances without rest. Long viewed with superstitious awe by sailors, they spend most of their time gliding over the ...
Nov 12, 2024 · albatross, (family Diomedeidae), any of more than a dozen species of large seabirds that collectively make up the family Diomedeidae (order Procellariiformes).Because of their tameness on land, many albatrosses are known by the common names mollymawk (from the Dutch for “foolish gull”) and gooney. Albatrosses are among the most spectacular gliders of all birds, able to stay aloft in windy ...
Jul 24, 2020 · This latitude range is "called the 'roaring 40s' and 'furious 50s' for a reason," said Andrea Angel, the Albatross Task Force manager with Birdlife South Africa, a nonprofit organization dedicated ...
Feb 5, 2024 · 1. Snowy Albatross (Diomedea exulans)Photo by JJ Harrison on Wikimedia Commons licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 (Cropped from original).. The Snowy albatross, also called the White-winged albatross or goonie, is genuinely an impressive bird. Boasting the longest wingspan of any living bird, it typically measures between 8 feet 3 inches and 12 feet.
The great albatrosses are seabirds in the genus Diomedea in the albatross family.The genus Diomedea formerly included all albatrosses except the sooty albatrosses, but in 1996 the genus was split, with the mollymawks and the North Pacific albatrosses both being elevated to separate genera. [1]The great albatrosses themselves form two species complexes, the wandering and Amsterdam albatrosses ...
Spending most of their lives at sea and covering vast distances, little was known about these elusive seabirds until relatively recently. Find out more about albatrosses in this expert guide from the RSPB, including the threats they face, and their outlook for the future.
albatross, Any of more than a dozen species of large seabirds (family Diomedeidae).Albatrosses are among the most spectacular gliders of all birds; in windy weather they can stay aloft for hours without flapping their wings.
And they can travel almost 1,000 km per day without flapping their wings! They do this by using their enormous wings to ride the ocean winds. Albatrosses’ far-ranging foraging behaviour puts them in the path of fishing vessels around the world, where thousands of albatrosses meet their end accidentally caught in fishing equipment when diving for bait or fish discards.