Española Island
This wonderful island is the only one in the Galapagos Archipelago where the endemic waved albatrosses (Diomedea irrorata) breed. They arrive here the last days of March and stay until December. Outside this period of time they spend their lives flying in the Pacific Ocean waters around Peru and Ecuador. On Española Island we can observe many of these magnificent birds on land or flying around. Without a doubt during this time of the year albatross chicks are the favorite of all. They have a combination of innocence and a comical appearance that steal the attention of their observers.
Waved albatrosses make a very simple nest directly on the ground, where they lay one single very large egg that weights an average 283 grams! The incubation period lasts 63 days, during this time both parents take turns. In average, they spend an equal amount of time incubating their egg. The incubating parent cannot leave the egg alone and spends long periods starving without eating and drinking until it is relieved. Once the chick hatches, the parents take turns once again to take care of the young bird for the first 15 or 30 days. During this period parent albatrosses switch places every 2 or 3 days. The extremely caring parents always come back with food. While chicks are growing, food portions get bigger and bigger. At the very beginning baby albatrosses are fed with small portions of a kind of oily soup, later with partially digested food, that includes small fish chunks. It is not less than hilarious to be able to witness a parent regurgitating food to its chick. Its comical appearance is just increased when some oil spreads over its plumage. We cannot avoid comparing recently fed babies with a messy old puppet in rags.
Something extraordinary as well is to observe how quickly the chicks gain weight. When the chicks hatch they weigh only 200 grams. After 1 month, they weigh 1.5 kilos. At 3 to 4 months they reach and sometimes they surpass the 3 to 4 kilos of the adults. At this age they finally show the beautiful and admired adult plumage. When chicks are 5 and a half months, they are ready to fledge, and leave the island and are totally independent from the parents. One day they will come back to Española Island just to start it all over again…
This wonderful island is the only one in the Galapagos Archipelago where the endemic waved albatrosses (Diomedea irrorata) breed. They arrive here the last days of March and stay until December. Outside this period of time they spend their lives flying in the Pacific Ocean waters around Peru and Ecuador. On Española Island we can observe many of these magnificent birds on land or flying around. Without a doubt during this time of the year albatross chicks are the favorite of all. They have a combination of innocence and a comical appearance that steal the attention of their observers.
Waved albatrosses make a very simple nest directly on the ground, where they lay one single very large egg that weights an average 283 grams! The incubation period lasts 63 days, during this time both parents take turns. In average, they spend an equal amount of time incubating their egg. The incubating parent cannot leave the egg alone and spends long periods starving without eating and drinking until it is relieved. Once the chick hatches, the parents take turns once again to take care of the young bird for the first 15 or 30 days. During this period parent albatrosses switch places every 2 or 3 days. The extremely caring parents always come back with food. While chicks are growing, food portions get bigger and bigger. At the very beginning baby albatrosses are fed with small portions of a kind of oily soup, later with partially digested food, that includes small fish chunks. It is not less than hilarious to be able to witness a parent regurgitating food to its chick. Its comical appearance is just increased when some oil spreads over its plumage. We cannot avoid comparing recently fed babies with a messy old puppet in rags.
Something extraordinary as well is to observe how quickly the chicks gain weight. When the chicks hatch they weigh only 200 grams. After 1 month, they weigh 1.5 kilos. At 3 to 4 months they reach and sometimes they surpass the 3 to 4 kilos of the adults. At this age they finally show the beautiful and admired adult plumage. When chicks are 5 and a half months, they are ready to fledge, and leave the island and are totally independent from the parents. One day they will come back to Española Island just to start it all over again…
