Waved Albatross Migration

The Waved Albatross leaves the Galapagos Islands before their reproductive cycle, take a closer look about this unique bird.

The largest bird in the Galapagos Islands, the waved albatross, is getting ready to depart, as it follows the cool waters back to lower southern latitudes. Albatrosses nest only on Espaola (Hood) Island, and live here from late March through early January.

The sole purpose of coming here is to reproduce, and so all their mating efforts must succeed before the arrival of the warm waters. This also brings the first rains, and their inland habitat is just impossible for them to cope with, as grasses particularly turn the dessert-like environment into a thick green lush jungle. Their offspring must be ready to leave too, as subaldults (adults with no previous mating experience), and so from October through December the most amazing flying lessons and wing exercises are witnessed on those brand new individuals.

Lots of downy feathers are seen being swept by the wind; the newer feathers are just coming out, and albatrosses must be ready to take off. Because of their big size, the young adults cannot have a second chance to take off. Once they jump off the cliffs near Punta Surez, they will start their long journey until the nutrient-rich waters start heading back to the islands. Our ships have reported as of December 30th, a total of just 12 albatrosses left on the island. The latest they have stayed is the end of the second week in January. Bon Voyage!

Authors
This article was developed by Metropolitan Touring, for their newsletter, and was wrote by a team of travelers, field guides, operations and marketing staff inside the company, all of them has more than 10 years working in the Galapagos cruises and tours guiding and sales, Sylvia Moncayo, Francisco Dousdebs, Santiago Tamayo, Gonzalo Alvarez are the team who produce our articles, Email info@metropolitan-touring.com Article Copyright Metropolitan Touring Corporation 2005 - 2006

Source:

• Galapagos Islands Cruises

By jorge alvarado Published: 8/8/2006

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Technorati Tags: animal migration photos, bird migration, migrations, photo conversion, photo converter

Tags: animal migration photos, bird migration, migrations, photo conversion, photo converter

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