More than seventy percent of the world's population nests on Midway. If you are visiting the Galapagos Islands during the fall, the albatross’ courtship display should not to be missed. In this post, you’ll learn 25 facts about the waved albatross, including diet, wingspan, mating habits (including a … The exact number fluctuates, but in January 2015, 666,044 breeding pairs of Laysan Albatross were nesting on … Th Black Browed albatross gets its distinctive eyebrow. Española Island is the only permanent waved albatross nesting site in the entire world. In rare cases you might see a waved albatross that has been slow to leave the island at the beginning of January, but this is not to be relied on. It is smaller then the wandering albatross, with a wingspan between 2 and 2.4 metres. Wisdom, the oldest known banded bird in the wild, is a female Laysan albatross that nests within the world's largest albatross colony on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. Many of the Navy’s buildings have been bulldozed over the years as the Cold War ended and the population receded from 5000 to 50, but Jenny’s childhood home still stands and an albatross still nests outside it. Until recently scientists recognised 14 different species of albatrosses, but new research using DNA technology has confirmed as many as 24. Fourteen varieties breed in the New Zealand region – more than anywhere else in the world. The Galapagos albatross can only be seen on Espanola Island, and only between April and December. It is thought that some 20,000 pairs breed and nest on Espanola Island. Forget about seeing an albatross around the new year holidays—the birds are all out to sea from the beginning of the year until about April. The waved albatross is the largest bird in the Galapagos Islands. Several are extremely rare, like the Antipodean albatross which breed in the sub Antarctic Island of Antipodes. There are around 40 breeding pairs which make their nest on the rugged tussock covered slopes of the southern part of the island. The islands are low-lying, averaging 3.2 meters in elevation, and sea level at Midway is rising at a rate of 5 millimeters per year—faster than the global average—which makes the impact of storms all the greater. Courtot and her team "wanted to look closer at what species would be most vulnerable," she says. She is at least 66-years old and a world renowned symbol of hope for all species that depend upon the health of the ocean to survive. Because of their tameness on land, many albatrosses are known by the common names mollymawk (from the Dutch for “foolish gull”) and gooney. They breed every year. Albatross, (family Diomedeidae), any of more than a dozen species of large seabirds that collectively make up the family Diomedeidae (order Procellariiformes).