Waved Albatross (Phoebastria irrorata) Courtship
Punta Cevallos, Española Island, GALAPAGOS ISLANDS
ECUADOR. South America
ENDEMIC TO GALAPAGOS.
However a few pairs nest on Isla de la Plata near the Ecuadorian mainland. +-12,000 pairs breed on the Island of Española in Galapagos. They only come ashore between April and December to breed, otherwise they spend their entire life at sea. Once an albatross chick fledges and goes to sea it will remain there until it is 4 years old before returning to land to breed for the first time. Albatross mate for life and live about 40 years. They form part of the family of tube-nosed birds.