19 July 2024

Midway Atoll hosts the largest Laysan albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) nesting colony in the world where more than 600,000 pairs raise young each year. The birds are absent in September but return to court in November, lay eggs in December, and hatch in February.

There are so many birds that it’s hard to count.

After the eggs hatch the chicks begin to wander in March while their parents hunt at sea. By May the chicks start to grow adult feathers but it will take two more months before they are ready to fledge in July. During this period they are everywhere …

In open spaces …

… near buildings …

… under trees and on the roads.

On the Fourth of July a rain shower prompted the chicks to flap their wings, shown in two videos below. You can hear the raindrops on the audio tracks.

Thousands of young Laysan albatross simulate flying by flapping their wings during a rain shower at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, July 4, 2024. (video by USFWS volunteer Dan Rapp)

— video description at USFWS Pacific on Flickr

Nearly ready for takeoff!

As soon as they fly, Laysan albatross youngsters leave Midway for a life at sea. USFWS Pacific says they are “likely to move towards Japan or Alaska, but their known range extends to Mexico, too.”  They won’t return to Midway Atoll until they are three years old. They don’t breed until age seven or eight.