Information
Albatrosses
feed mainly on squid and fish, and nest on remote oceanic
islands. Albatrosses can cover enormous distances, flying
as far as 16,100 km/10,000 mi in 33 days, or up to 640
km/600 mi in one day. They continue flying even after
dark, at speeds of up to 53.5 kph/50 mph, though they
may stop for an hour's rest and to feed during the night.
The method of flight of albatrosses is interesting in
that they may maintain gliding flight without flapping
their wings for hours on end. To do this they make use
of the steady trade winds, and the fact that nearer
to the surface of the water the air flows more slowly,
reaching full speed much higher up. They dive downwind,
turn, and rise up into progressively faster-moving air.
The faster the air flows over their wings, the greater
the lift; in this way they can reach the heights from
which they started without flapping their wings. They
do, however, lose ground downwind, so they drift slowly
across the ocean with the prevailing winds. The birds
seldom come ashore, except at breeding time..
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