Waved Albatross

• conservaciónIt breeds almost entirely on a single island of the archipelago, Española, which gives it one of the most restricted breeding ranges of any seabird in the world.
• It is the only tropical albatross in the world, and its entire breeding population fits on an island of sixty square kilometres.
• Its courtship dance includes a bill duel in which the pair clatter them together with a rattle audible from a distance, alternating bows and swaying and ending with both pointing at the sky: each pair perfects its own version over the years.
• The birds roll their eggs along the ground during incubation, sometimes for several metres, a behaviour that has never been fully explained.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)

Habitat & environment

The Humboldt Current off Peru and Ecuador; breeds almost exclusively on Española island, in the Galápagos

Sexual maturity

8.3 years

Gestation / incubation

62 days of incubation

Litter / clutch size

1 egg

Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoebastria_irrorata