the.com/albatross
the bird that glides a thousand miles without flapping, then ruins a poem forever
means A very large ocean-going seabird famed for its immense wingspan and effortless gliding flight, often used figuratively to mean a persistent, inescapable burden of guilt or responsibility.
from From the older 'alcatras,' English sailors' name for big seabirds, borrowed from Spanish and Portuguese 'alcatraz' (pelican or frigate bird), which itself comes from Arabic 'al-ghattas,' a diving sea-eagle — the 'al-' is the Arabic 'the.' The spelling likely shifted toward 'albatross' under the pull of Latin 'albus,' meaning white, fitting the bird's pale plumage. The 'burden' sense comes straight from Coleridge's 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,' where a sailor shoots an albatross and is forced to wear the dead bird around his neck — so the poem really did, as the essence says, fix the word's fate.
- wingspan
- Up to 11 feet, widest of any living bird
- sleep-flyer
- Can doze mid-flight while still soaring
- lifespan
- Wisdom the albatross bred past age 70
- low effort
- Locks wings to glide for hours unflapped
- loyalty
- Mates for life, divorce rate near zero
wandering albatross — largest living albatross with 11.5 foot wingspan, inhabits southern ocean
laysan albatross — breeds on laysan island in hawaii, 1.2 million individuals in north pacific
royal albatross — nests on campbell island near new zealand, one of world's largest birds