Albatross is the common name for seabirds in the order of tube nosed swimmers.  There are twelve different species of albatross, the most famous being the wandering albatross witch appears in Samuel Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
 
The albatross is a large bird with a wingspan of 10 to 12 feet long and 9 inches wide.  Males can weigh up to 26 pounds and females up to 20.  They are found mainly in the South Pacific region although they can be found from the Antarctic to the Tropic.  Albatross eat fish, floating carion and ship scraps.  Humans are their only real enemies as many are caught in long lines.  They were also slaughtered for their feathers and wings in the 19th century.

The albatross can fly for hundreds of miles without stopping and usually only touch the ground to breed.  They spend the majority of their time in the air.  If they tire, they sometimes land on ships.  Albatross build crude nests in which to lay their eggs and then the male and female take turns incubating the egg while the other searches for food. Once gone on a food finding mission, an albatross can be gone for days or weeks.  After juvenile albatross leave their nests, they will spend up to five years at sea.

The idiom "albatross around one's neck" is derived from Coleridge's poem.  It refers to a heavy burden of guilt that becomes an obstacle to success.  This idea is based on the superstition that it is bad luck to kill an albatross and anyone who does is cursed forever.  It is believed by many that the albatross embodies the restless soul of a dead mariner.  It is also believed that an albatross circling a ship in the middle of the ocean was an omen of wind and bad weather to come.

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** Albatross can be pluralized as either albatross or albatrosses.  I personally prefer albatross because the alternative is too wierd!

The Wandering Albatross
http://glencoe.pps.k12.or.us/Redland/albatross.html

So to Speak - Idiom
http://.mcdougallittell.com/lit/sts/05/sts0505a.html