Black-browed Albatross: a two-minute wildlife lesson

Seabirds · day 7 of 7

Five facts

1. A dark stripe through its eye looks like a frowning eyebrow, which gives it its name. It can live for more than 70 years.
2. Flapping its long wings soon wears it out. Instead it rides the wind, gliding in great rising and falling circles.
3. Young albatrosses come back to the colony after two or three years just to practise courtship. They only start breeding at around 10.
4. Like its relatives, it makes an oily liquid in its stomach. It feeds this rich oil to its chicks and uses it as fuel on long flights.
5. One albatross, nicknamed Albert, was blown far north in 1967 and spent summers in Scottish gannet colonies for years.

The quiz

1. What gives the black-browed albatross its name?

• Its black feet
• A dark stripe by its eye (correct)
• Its black tail
• Its dark beak

Its dark eye stripe, like an eyebrow, gives the bird its name.

2. How does it usually travel over the ocean?

• By flapping hard all the time
• By swimming underwater
• By gliding on the wind (correct)
• By riding on ships

Flapping tires it quickly, so it glides on the wind, rarely beating its wings.

3. Why do young albatrosses first return to the colony?

• To lay their first egg
• To practise courtship (correct)
• To find their parents
• To moult their feathers

They come back after two or three years only to practise, and breed at around 10.

4. What does it use its stomach oil for?

• Waterproofing its eggs
• Building its nest
• Cleaning its beak
• Feeding chicks and fuelling long flights (correct)

The oil is an energy-rich food for chicks and for adults on long flights.

5. Where did Albert the albatross spend his summers?

• In Scottish gannet colonies (correct)
• On a ship's deck
• In Antarctic ice caves
• In a city park

Blown off course in 1967, he summered among gannets in Scotland for years.

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