Wandering Albatross
We visited an area where Wandering Albatrosses nest on South Georgia Island. The nests were on the ground and appeared to be made of mud and grass, woven together to form a small bowl. One of the albatrosses was doing nest maintenance. The nests were near the top of what looked like a ski slope going down toward the water. Giant petrels were nesting in the area also, and both of these large species use the ski slope to run down and become airborne. The large albatrosses such as the Wandering spend most of their time soaring in the wind, and it takes a considerable effort for them to get off the ground. A reason they are not found in more northerly latitudes is that they were not able to become airborne in the area of the ocean known as the doldrums, which had little wind.
Wandering Albatross
We visited an area where Wandering Albatrosses nest on South Georgia Island. The nests were on the ground and appeared to be made of mud and grass, woven together to form a small bowl. One of the albatrosses was doing nest maintenance. The nests were near the top of what looked like a ski slope going down toward the water. Giant petrels were nesting in the area also, and both of these large species use the ski slope to run down and become airborne. The large albatrosses such as the Wandering spend most of their time soaring in the wind, and it takes a considerable effort for them to get off the ground. A reason they are not found in more northerly latitudes is that they were not able to become airborne in the area of the ocean known as the doldrums, which had little wind.