### animal | vertebrate | bird | seabird:

Albatross
* All albatrosses are very good at flying , spending much of their life in the air.
* Most albatrosses defend nest sites
  - dive into water
* Most albatrosses drink sea water
  - eat fish
* Most albatrosses find food
  - good food
* Most albatrosses have characteristics
  - eyesights
  - heads
  - narrow wings
  - senses
  - several characteristics
  - toes
  - live in the southern oceans, with only occasional excursions into northern waters
* Most albatrosses reach maturity
  - sexual maturity
  - take flight
* Some albatrosses consume crabs
  - eat squids
* Some albatrosses have bills
  - chances
  - predators
  - live to be eighty years old
  - steal food.
  * Great Albatrosses are among the largest of flying birds. All albatrosses are very good at flying, spending much of their life in the air. They eat squid, fish and krill. Albatrosses come ashore to make their nests, mostly on islands, and usually near the nests of other birds
* also use the island.
* are a priority species
  - amongst the world's larger birds
  - as big as turkeys sitting on the ocean water
  - hard-working athletes
  - known for their clumsyness when landing
* are large birds and as such have relatively small populations
  - flying birds that spend most of their life on the sea
  - monogamous and lay only one egg a year, in the same spot every year
  - monogamous, having one mate, and lay one egg each year
  - nomads, staying at sea for months at a time
  - oceanic birds
  - predators also, but they are shown in black
* are pretty unusual in laying one egg at one time
  - scores
  - ships
  - species that reproduce very slowly
  - the most imperiled of all the world's seabirds
  - tremendous pelagic birds
  - truly at home soaring over the open ocean
  - very large
  - well known for their intricate mating dances
* breed on remote islands forming large colonies.
* can drink sea water and excrete the excess salt through their nasal passages
  - soar magnificently in high winds, swoop dramatically, and glide with ease
* come ashore only to breed.
* cross oceans for breakfast and deign to touch shore only when it involves sex.
* drink salt water, as do some other sea birds
  - meat
  - mostly fish, fish eggs, and squid
  - squid and small fish
* feed mainly on squid and fish, and nest on remote oceanic islands
  - on fish
* flap wings.
* follow longline fishing boats for the waste thrown overboard.
* have a hard time laying their children
  - among the most remarkable travelling capacities of any extant animal
  - difficulty flying without wind
  - the highest proportion of threatened species in any bird family
  - breasts
  - cells
  - flight feathers
  - second joints
  - skulls
  - wishbones
* is an oceanic bird
* live long, mate for life, and produce only one egg every one or two years
  - together , and they usually nest on islands where no people live
* mate for life but usually only reproduce every other year.
* nest in colonies
  - dense colonies
* pair up for life and they do return to land and to their nesting sites.
* raise their feet off the ground and spread their wings to shade their feet.
* return to land to breed.
* routinely travel great distances.
* take care of their young chicks until they have grown enough to defend themselves
  - several years to get their full adult feathers
* usually come back to their own group after leaving for a while to find a mate.
* work hard for a living.
+ Albatross, Biology, Breeding and dancing
  * Albatrosses live together, and they usually nest on islands where no people live. Many Buller's Albatrosses and Black-footed Albatrosses nest under trees in open forest. Albatrosses usually come back to their own group after leaving for a while to find a mate.
  * Albatrosses have a hard time laying their children. It takes a lot of time for an albatross to lay an egg and raise a chick. The great albatrosses take over a year to raise a chick. Albatrosses lay one egg, white with reddish brown spots. But if the egg is taken by other predators or accidentally broken, the parents will not lay another egg for that whole year. This sometimes may happen if several years passed without being able to lay a single egg
  - Flight: Procellariiformes :: Seabirds
  * Albatrosses are very large. The bill is large, strong and sharp. This bill is made of horny plates. They are actually long nostrils. The tubes of all albatrosses are on the sides of the bill. They help the albatrosses develop their sense of smell a lot.
  * The adult albatrosses usually have a dark upper-wing and back, and white undersides when they are getting ready to take flight. Albatrosses take several years to get their full adult feathers.
  * They can fly easily over wind and waves. However, because their long wings does not have strong muscles or energy, they cannot flap while they fly. Because of this, albatrosses in calm seas must stop and rest on the surface of the ocean until the wind begins to blow harder. The Behaviour, Population, Biology and Physiology of the Petrels'. When taking-off, albatrosses need to run first to help the wing make lift. Albatrosses are known for their clumsyness when landing