Wandering Albatross (Diomedea exulans) Science Article 9
abstract
1.The investigation covered whether sexual dimorphism could affect flight performancein a manner that is consistent with differences in at-sea distribution of male and femaleWandering Albatrosses, Diomedea exulans Linnaeus. Adult morphology was also comparedto near-fledged chicks to assess whether morphological differences are consistent with different at-sea distributions of adults and fledglings. 2. Body girth, mass, wing span and area were measured on 24 females (16 adults and 8 chicks) and 32 males (20 adults and 12 chicks) breeding in the Crozet Archipelago. 3. On average, adult males had longer wings but were also than adult females. As a result, wing loading in adult males was 12+1% greater than adult females.[..]
S. A. SHAFFER, Functional Ecology 2001 15, 203-210