ALBATROSS, common name applied to large seabirds of the family
Diomedeidae in the order Procellariiformes, which includes the
petrels and shearwaters. Albatross bills are characterized by a
markedly hooked upper mandible with tubular nostrils protruding
from the base. The feet are strongly webbed and lack a hind claw;
the wings are long and narrow. Thirteen species of albatross can
be found mainly throughout seas of the southern hemisphere,
from the Antarctic region north to the Tropics.
Albatrosses are nomadic birds that spend months wandering great distances
over
the oceans. They sleep on the ocean surface, drink seawater, and feed on
cuttlefish, other small marine animals, and refuse from ships. They return
to land
only to breed, at which time they perform a stylized courting ritual of
elaborate
bowing and posturing. Albatrosses nest on barren islands, close to shore;
the nest
usually is a depression in the ground containing a single egg. When hatched,
the
nestling is covered with brownish down, and it grows to adulthood relatively
slowly.
Their relative fearlessness around humans has led the albatrosses to be
nicknamed
"gooneys"; nesting sites near military airstrips on islands have sometimes
created
problems because of the birds? interference with takeoffs and landings.
At sea
albatrosses often follow a ship for days, diving to recover refuse from
the wake of the
ship. They are seldom harmed because of a superstition held by sailors
that killing
the bird brings bad luck. The superstition forms the theme of "The Rime
of the
Ancient Mariner" by the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
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