Island and Isla de la Plata. During non-breeding season they will shift to the east and southeast to the continental shelf region off the coast of Peru and Ecuador. Sometimes they are seen in Colombia. Behavior Feeding The primary food sources of the waved albatross are fish, squid, and crustaceans, as well as smaller birds. But they have also been observed to scavenge for other food sources, including the regurgitated food of other birds. When foraging, the waved albatross finds places in the ocean where prey will be near this surface; this is the most effective way for the albatross to get its food. The waved albatrosses will forage away from the place where the chicks are nesting to get food for them. Breeding The nests are built on areas of lava with boulders and sparse vegetation, or thick brush. The courtship of the waved albatross is a very elusive and spectacular sight. It includes: rapid bill circling and bowing, beak clacking, and an upraised bill to make a whoo hoo sound. The eggs are laid between April and June and incubated for two months. When the eggs hatch, the chicks stay together in small nurseries while the parents go out to the sea for hunting. When the parents return, they may feed the chicks up to of oil. The young reach adult size by December and leave the colony by January. The partners remain mates until one of the partners dies. Flight Waved albatross are spectacular flyers, perhaps even the most famous. They can fly for hours without stalling and they do this by dynamic soaring. The wind speed near the surface of the sea is much lower than about in the air. The waved albatross uses this to its advantage by gliding at speed into the wind. As the waved albatross glides higher it loses most of its ground speed because it is gliding into a wind of a higher speed. However, its air speed does not fall, enabling it to glide continuously. Waved albatrosses do have difficulty in landing because of their high stalling speed, and in taking off because of their weight and wing span. To make it easier they sometimes take off from cliffs that are somewhat inland rather than beside the coast. Conservation The population of waved albatrosses on the Galápagos is protected by national park personnel, and the island is also categorized as