Fast and fuel efficient? Optimal use of wind by flying albatrosses

The influence of wind patterns on behaviour and effort of free-ranging male wandering albatrosses (Diomedea exulans) was studied with miniaturized ext ernal heart-rate recorders in conjunction with satellite transmitters and a ctivity recorders. Heart rate was used as an instantaneous index of energy expenditure. When cruising with favourable tail or side winds, wandering al batrosses can achieve high flight speeds while expending little more energy than birds resting on land. In contrast, heart rate increases concomitantl y with increasing head winds, and flight speeds decrease. Our results show that effort is greatest when albatrosses take off from or land on the water . On a larger scale, we show that in order for birds to have the highest pr obability of experiencing favourable winds, wandering albatrosses use predi ctable weather systems to engage in a stereotypical flight pattern of large looping tracks. When heading north, albatrosses fly in anticlockwise loops , and to the south, movements are in a clockwise direction. Thus, the capac ity to integrate instantaneous eco-physiological measures with records of l arge-scale flight and wind patterns allows us to understand better the comp lex interplay between the evolution of morphological, physiological and beh avioural adaptations of albatrosses in the windiest place on earth.