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RE: Amazing Animals #7 The Wandering Albatross
What a great article again! It is the first of this famous series I am finally getting on-track with it and want to thank you for the fantastic work you have shared with us here!!! How much time do they spend in the air in their entire lifetime, if we are to extrapolate the % of time spent over the course fo the day? This is insane!!!
Namaste :)
Thanks glad you enjoyed it :)
Considering they only return to dry land for 3-4 months of the year, and even then continue to fly for up to 3 weeks at a time we can assume that they are likely only on land for a period of around 4-8 weeks per year. This rises significantly if they have a Chick and they may spend as long as 20 weeks on land while they take turns gathering food for the Chick, this prolonged period on land only occurs every 2-5 years.
Aside from the breeding season they roost frequently at night time on the waves, though they are more than capable of resting on the wing and flying for days or even weeks at a time, with one Albatross travelling over 10000 miles on a single journey, they actually use less energy in flight than they do on dry land! It can be estimated that they will spend at least 50% of their life in the air though this figure may be significantly higher depending on the individual and the feeding opportunities available to it.
This reply is one of the very best I got over the passed year and a half, great answer to my question and it sure is worth a solid upvote! Thank you so very much, this way, I'll be going to bed less of an idiot, in some ways... ;) LOL!!!
Namaste :)