Birds running on water? Well, yes, a number of birds do, pelagic birds that live on the oceans surface where they feed on plankton, fish, – and unfortunately these days – bits of plastic. The Black-footed Albatross is one such; its seven-foot wings that let it soar effortlessly for hours over the ocean are too long to flap on take-off to get airborne.
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So they spread their wings wide and paddle, run actually, across the surface until the wind under their angled wings is strong enough to lift them up to where they can catch an oncoming breeze to lift them further. Something like you used to do as a kid; running down the beach with a kite, trying to get up enough speed to launch it. (OK, some of us still do it. Sorry.)
And He is Off!
Anyway, the birds are quite a sight, legs stretched wide, moving faster and faster into what lifting breeze there is, until it supports them and they rise up a few feet, where they are once again free to soar on the supporting air.
And he’s off!
No, the Albatrosses don’t build nests or lay eggs on the water, they find a sandy shore where they can lay their single egg for the season.
It isn’t only pelagic seabirds that run on the water to get enough speed to take off, Cormorants do also. Here is one, paddling furiously, his wings slapping the water with every beat of his wings.
