Great Widow Albatross

The Great Widow Albatross is a large, mainly pelagic sea bird found only in Yuriba. It takes its name from its devotedly monogamous mating habits and from the beautiful, mournful cries emitted by widowed birds as they soar over the ocean.

Physiology

The Great Widow Albatross is an easily identified bird, the only albatross native to Yuriba. It is a sleek-bodied bird with a short neck and a long, thick, grey-blue bill with a prominent hook at the tip. The bird's shoulders, tail, and back are black, and the underwings are smoke-grey. The dark plumage of the shoulders is separated from the remaining white of the upper wing by a thin band of sooty-brown; a similar band adorns the end of the short, stubby tail. The bird's feet are webbed, showing the same grey-blue colour as the bill.

The wingspan of the Great Widow Albatross is the largest of any Yuriban bird and can reach up to three meters from wingtip to wingtip. The wings are long and fairly narrow. In conjunction with the bird's aerodynamic body they allow it to soar for extremely long distances with no need for flapping. Unlike most sea birds the Great Widow Albatross is comfortable on land and can walk without difficulty.

Mating Habits

Great Widow Albatrosses are monogamous birds. When seeking a mate, the bird will perform one of any number of elaborate mating dances, most of which include the stereotypical albatross pose in which the bird points its beak to the sky. If a potential partner is interested she will join in the mating dance. When complete, the two birds will take flight and soar out to sea together, consummating their relationship upon their return.

The Great Widow Albatross takes its name from the fact that it will never seek another mate once its mate has died. Mated albatrosses always fly fairly close together, and paired albatrosses are not an infrequent sight. When an albatross is widowed, she can always be seen flying alone. Only a widowed albatross calls frequently at sea. The call of the lone Great Widow Albatross is low, solemn, and musical, bearing resemblance to a mournful funeral song. Each albatross has a unique cry, allowing individual widows to be identified by song.

The birds typically lay only one egg at a time. Twins are not unheard of but are exceptionally rare. Even a widowed albatross will care for her children until they have grown into their adult plumage, though young Great Widow Albatrosses usually fly at a great distance from their parents.

Mating season for the Great Widow Albatross occurs during the winter.

Nesting and Range

The Great Widow Albatross is an extremely rare sight on the Yuriban mainland. They tend to keep to the north side of the island, making their nests on outcroppings and crags in the cliffs there. Nests tend to be formed of packed seaweed and driftwood twigs. Typically they are left empty during much of spring and through summer and autumn, as the birds are usually at sea.

Great Widow Albatrosses have a fairly long range and can be found throughout all of the Devil's Triangle and often beyond, though they stay away from land masses outside of that area and are seldom sighted by non-Yuribans.

"Devil Bird"

Popular legend tells of a shipload of Filipino fishermen who got lost in the Devil's Triangle with no fresh water to sustain them. They encountered a Great Widow Albatross, which flew ahead of the ship and guided them towards land - Yuriba, of course. When the sailors made landfall they went looking for a drink. The first water they found was the Nyanniichuan spring, and when they stumbled into its waters to drink they all turned into girls. Shocked and afraid, the newly-minted fisherwomen cursed the albatross and gave it the name "Devil Bird".

The Devil Bird legend is not widely circulated, and most locals who know of it view it with great amusement, sympathizing with the albatross rather than the fishermen.