Flight Practice

The albatross chicks are very close to fledging. The healthiest chicks now weigh more than their parents and the adult birds will soon stop feeding them. Many of the chicks are standing in open areas, extending their wings, and flapping. All of them still have some down, so some of them look like shaking a feather duster. This is all in preparation for their first flight. After the parents stop feeding them, they get hungry and lose weight and eventually will make their first flight away from the island. They instinctively know that they must fly away from land to get their food. These first flights are dangerous and many birds drown or are eaten by predators just beyond the surf line. The first chicks will make this flight within a week or 10 days and the last will be gone by mid August. The island will be much different without them.