The largest living bird by wingspan is the Wandering Albatross (Diomedea exulans) of the sub-Antarctic oceans. The maximum dimensions in this species are a length of 1.44 m (4.7 ft) and a wingspan of 3.65 m (12.0 ft).

Some individual wandering albatrosses are known to circumnavigate the Southern Ocean three times (covering more than 120,000 km or 75,000 miles) in one year.