Albatross

Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds allied to the procellariids, storm-petrels and diving-petrels in the order Procellariiformes (the tubenoses). They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacific. They are absent from the North Atlantic, although fossil remains show they once occurred there too and occasional vagrants are found.

Albatrosses are among the largest of flying birds, and the great albatrosses (genus Diomedea) have the largest wingspans of any extant birds, reaching up to 12 feet. The albatrosses are usually regarded as falling into four genera, but there is disagreement over the number of species.

Albatross in The War That Came Early
Albatross where commonly found on the island of Midway, where they would lay their eggs during mating season. While on his way to Liberate Wake Island, Pete McGill watched a pair of the birds flying about. He reminisced about how they were great flyers, but couldn't land worth a damn.