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The wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans) has the longest wingspan of any living bird — up to 3.7 meters. It can soar for hours without flapping its wings, using a technique called dynamic soaring that extracts energy from wind speed gradients near the ocean surface. Satellite tracking has shown wandering albatrosses circumnavigating the Southern Ocean (24,000+ km) in 46 days during the non-breeding season.
Albatrosses are highly faithful to their mates — a bond maintained through elaborate courtship dances performed only with the chosen partner. They typically don't breed until age 10–15 and can live for 70+ years. Wisdom, a Laysan albatross at Midway Atoll, is the world's oldest known wild bird — over 70 years old and still breeding. Longline fishing kills an estimated 100,000 albatrosses annually.
# Top 10 Albatross facts
- 1Wandering albatrosses circumnavigate the Southern Ocean (24,000+ km) in 46 days — averaging 520 km per day
- 2'Wisdom' the Laysan albatross is over 70 years old and still breeding — the world's oldest known wild bird
- 3Albatrosses can fly 10,000+ km from their breeding colony to find food for their chick — taking weeks per trip
Fascinating Facts
- ◆Wandering albatrosses circumnavigate the Southern Ocean (24,000+ km) in 46 days — averaging 520 km per day
- ◆'Wisdom' the Laysan albatross is over 70 years old and still breeding — the world's oldest known wild bird
- ◆Albatrosses can fly 10,000+ km from their breeding colony to find food for their chick — taking weeks per trip
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