Eggs are laid in November, incubated for 70 days, and the chicks are then fed by their parents until September, when the young fly off, almost a year after conception. Birds which have bred one season will not return to breed the next—they need time to regain condition—so one chick per two years is the most a pair of albatrosses can pro­duce. Although this is a low rate of reproduction, albatrosses are long-lived. One bird which bred here was at least 60 when she stopped appearing at the colony.