This is Bird Note. To stay fit for the skies, most birds molt and regrow their flight feathers,

one at a time along each wing. For an American Robin with a 17-inch wing span, that's 19 feathers

per wing, molted and regrown over two months just after the nesting season each year.

Now let's scale up to the wing molt of a snowy albatross, one of the largest flying birds in the world with a whopping 10 to 12 foot wingspan.

The snowy albatross, formerly known as the wandering albatross, is an incredibly efficient

flyer, thanks to those long, narrow wings.

Sure, albatrosses may look awkward taking off.

But once airborne, they can soar for hours, even days as they forage for squid and fish

on the ocean surface. A tendon locks in place in each wing, allowing them to ride the air

currents with little effort or flapping. These birds are supreme gliders. With that gargantuan wingspan, it takes the large albatrosses a full year to molt,

and they have to put off breeding until the next year.

It's one or the other.

Their long wings require a lot of upkeep,

but they make the snowy albatross a true master of the wind.

This episode is also available in Espanol. To learn more, start at our website, birdnote.org.

I'm Ariana Rimmel.