Albatrosses can stay at sea for months, and sometimes more than a year, without setting foot on land. Going without land is not the same as never stopping, though, because they routinely settle on the sea surface to rest. The real feat is efficiency rather than endurance: they cruise on the wind using barely more energy than a bird resting on land.1PubMed Central. Fast and fuel efficient? Optimal use of wind by flying albatrosses
Do Albatrosses Ever Stop Flying
While foraging, several albatross species spend only about 56 to 65 percent of their time in the air.2Ibis. Comparative activity pattern during foraging of four albatross species By day they fly about 77 to 85 percent of the time, but at night they mostly sit on the water, around 61 to 71 percent of darkness.3Ibis. Comparative activity pattern during foraging of four albatross species Species differ in how they do it: yellow-nosed albatrosses land often in short hops, while sooty albatrosses land and take off less often.4Ibis. Comparative activity pattern during foraging of four albatross species These percentages are averages over many days of foraging, so a bird airborne about 60 percent of the time is still landing many times a day.
Night is the usual rest time for many birds, though albatrosses hunt by sight and smell, and some prey, such as squid, comes closer to the surface after dark, so some feeding happens at night too. Some birds fly through parts of the night, especially when there is moonlight or good wind.
The wandering albatross is the long-haul specialist. It makes fewer but longer flights than smaller species,5Marine Ecology Progress Series. Free as a bird? Activity patterns of albatrosses during the nonbreeding period and it also spends more time on the water, in fewer, longer rest periods.6Marine Ecology Progress Series. Foraging behaviour of four albatross species by night and day Outside the breeding season, all species spend more time resting on the water, since they no longer have to return to a nest.7Marine Ecology Progress Series. Free as a bird? Activity patterns of albatrosses during the nonbreeding period
How Far and How Fast Albatrosses Travel
While a mate sits on the egg, a wandering albatross can cover 3,600 to 15,000 km on one feeding trip.8Nature. Satellite tracking of Wandering albatrosses They can fly up to 900 km in a day at speeds up to 80 km per hour.9Nature. Satellite tracking of Wandering albatrosses The bird has to return because its mate is fasting on the egg, so these trips are long but have a clear end.
The globe-circling happens in a different phase. Wandering albatrosses usually breed every other year, and they spend the year off at sea. Raising one chick takes most of a year, so the year off is also a recovery period. A bird in its year off has no egg or chick to return to, so it can follow good winds and food wherever they lead. Some birds circle Antarctica two or three times in that year, covering more than 120,000 km.10PubMed Central. Extreme variation in migration strategies between and within wandering albatross populations during their sabbatical year, and their fitness consequences That is about three times around the Earth at the equator.
A first lap around Antarctica can take just 32 to 45 days.11Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. Lifetime foraging patterns of the wandering albatross: Life on the move! On the second lap, birds often stop for months in a favourite feeding area before heading home.12Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. Lifetime foraging patterns of the wandering albatross: Life on the move! Gray-headed albatrosses have also circled the globe, the fastest in 46 days.13PubMed. Global circumnavigations: tracking year-round ranges of nonbreeding albatrosses
Southern Ocean winds blow west to east almost constantly, and flying with them lowers energy costs. Birds circling the pole ride these winds eastward all the way round, so the loop follows the wind rather than fighting it.
Not every bird roams. Some albatrosses stay near their home range all year, while others make round trips to one feeding area.14PubMed. Global circumnavigations: tracking year-round ranges of nonbreeding albatrosses Some birds, especially females from one island population, stay put and breed in consecutive years.15PubMed Central. Extreme variation in migration strategies between and within wandering albatross populations during their sabbatical year, and their fitness consequences
How Albatrosses Fly Without Flapping
Wind over the sea blows faster a few metres up than at the surface. Friction with the water slows the air near the waves. Albatrosses use a looping flight that draws energy from this difference.16Ibis. Minimum shear wind strength required for dynamic soaring of albatrosses The bird isn’t creating energy; it is borrowing it from the wind, which is why the flight is nearly free.
A loop goes like this. The bird climbs into the wind, then banks and turns downwind. It dives toward the waves, gaining speed, skims low, and pulls up into the wind again. The cycle repeats every several seconds. The main energy boost comes at the top of each loop, when the bird turns from flying into the wind to flying with it.17PubMed. Experimental verification of dynamic soaring in albatrosses It does lose some energy on the lower part of the loop near the waves.18Ibis. Minimum shear wind strength required for dynamic soaring of albatrosses
The body is built for gliding. Long, narrow wings matched to body weight keep flight costs low.19Marine Ornithology. A conceptual framework for the drivers of albatross movement They also keep fat low while growing new flight feathers, which keeps the wings less loaded.20Journal of Avian Biology. Large-scale variation in flight feather molt as a mechanism enabling biennial breeding in albatrosses A tendon sheet in the shoulder locks the wings straight out with almost no muscle effort,21PubMed. Anatomy and histochemistry of spread-wing posture in birds. 3. Immunohistochemistry of flight muscles and the “shoulder lock” in albatrosses and key gliding muscles are made of slow, fatigue-resistant fibres.22PubMed. Anatomy and histochemistry of spread-wing posture in birds. 3. Immunohistochemistry of flight muscles and the “shoulder lock” in albatrosses The bird still steers by tilting and twisting its wings.
Flapping long, heavy wings burns far more energy, which is why soaring lets albatrosses save flapping for brief moments. With tail or side winds they fly fast while using little more energy than birds resting on land.23PubMed Central. Fast and fuel efficient? Optimal use of wind by flying albatrosses
Effort only rises at take-off and landing.24PubMed Central. Fast and fuel efficient? Optimal use of wind by flying albatrosses To take off from water, the bird must reach flying speed without a drop from a perch, so it often runs across the surface while flapping hard. Facing a decent headwind makes this easier, so albatrosses typically launch into the wind. Landing at speed also takes work, since the bird must brake and control its descent.
What Happens When the Wind Drops
Wind-powered soaring needs a wind of about 3.2 metres per second, roughly 11 km per hour.25PubMed Central. Observations and models of across-wind flight speed of the wandering albatross Tighter, faster loops can lower that to about 2.9 metres per second.26PubMed Central. Observations and models of across-wind flight speed of the wandering albatross Albatrosses have been seen flying in winds even lighter than that, which is not fully explained.27PubMed Central. Observations and models of across-wind flight speed of the wandering albatross
On a calm day, flapping flight is too costly to keep up for long, because big wings and heavy bodies make sustained flapping exhausting. So the bird settles on the sea and waits, since waiting costs less energy than flying.
Wind changes their speed too. Albatrosses fly faster through the air in stronger winds,28PubMed Central. Flight speed and performance of the wandering albatross with respect to wind simply because the wind supplies more of the energy. In light winds under about 7 metres per second they speed up when heading into the wind,29PubMed Central. Flight speed and performance of the wandering albatross with respect to wind which sounds backward, since a headwind normally slows a bird. Facing the wind may give the soaring loops more airflow to use, though the finding describes the pattern rather than a full explanation.
How Changing Winds Are Affecting Albatross Flight
Southern Ocean westerly winds have grown stronger and shifted toward the pole.30PubMed. Changes in wind pattern alter albatross distribution and life-history traits As a result, wandering albatrosses now forage farther south and fly faster.31PubMed. Changes in wind pattern alter albatross distribution and life-history traits Feeding trips are shorter, breeding success has improved, and birds have gained over 1 kg.32PubMed. Changes in wind pattern alter albatross distribution and life-history traits
More wind means cheaper, faster soaring, so a bird covers the same ground in less time and gets back to its chick sooner. Moving south puts birds in a belt of stronger winds nearer to where they hunt. Faster, cheaper flight means less energy spent travelling, so more of what the bird eats becomes body weight.
The good news may not last. The benefit depends on the winds staying in a position that suits birds based at their breeding islands, and winds that keep shifting south could move away from them. The finding applies to wandering albatrosses, while other species forage in different places and may be affected differently. Other threats, like fishing hooks, still kill many albatrosses.