Tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier) prey on fledglings as they swim near breeding islands, eating about 1 in 10 fledglings. Tiger sharks can also attack adults. Polynesian rats (Rattus exulans) have also been reported to attack incubating adults and nestlings. Adults will protect their nests using their bills. In the main Hawaiian islands, introduced predators such as dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) have killed Laysan albatrosses and, on Oahu, mongooses (Herpestidae) may be a threat.
Known Predators:
Laysan albatrosses have blackish-brown backs and upper wings. The primary feathers have a flash of white. The under wing is also white, with black margins. There is a dark tail band that is visible during flight. Similar species are black-footed albatrosses (Phoebastria nigripes). They are distinguished because black-footed albatrosses are dark all over, including the under wings. The other similar North American albatross species, short-tailed albatrosses (Phoebastria albatrus), have a yellow wash on the head and neck.
Range mass: 1.9 to 3.1 kg.
Average mass: 2.4 kg.
Range length: 79 to 81 cm.
Range wingspan: 195 to 203 cm.
Average basal metabolic rate: 0.53 cm3.O2/g/hr.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry
Sexual Dimorphism: sexes alike
Average basal metabolic rate: 7.462 W.
Laysan albatrosses have a lifespan of 12to 51 years. Birds that start breeding early in life tend to die younger. Mortality rates are highest during the 3rd to 6th breeding years. The major cause of mortality in nestlings is dehydration. Many adult birds have been killed due to military and aircraft activities.
Range lifespan
Status: wild: 12 to 51 years.
Typical lifespan
Status: wild: 10 to 19 years.
When they land in the breeding season, Laysan albatrosses prefer to be in sandy, grassy areas on low atolls. They prefer to be next to sand dunes and shrubs such as Scaevola. The rest of the time, Laysan albatrosses are found at soaring above the sea and only land on the water to feed or sleep. Their distribution may be related to food abundance, such as squid. On land, they are not frequently found above 500 m, usually at sea level.
Range elevation: 0 to 500 m.
Habitat Regions: temperate ; tropical ; saltwater or marine
Terrestrial Biomes: desert or dune
Aquatic Biomes: pelagic
Laysan albatrosses breed on the Hawaiian islands, some of Japan’s Bonin Islands, Guadalupe Island, and other islands off the coast of western Mexico. These albatrosses mainly breed in the Hawaiian archipelago; more than half of the population breeds on Midway Island. Their name comes from the breeding colony on Laysan, in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands. When Laysan albatrosses are not breeding, they occur throughout the Pacific Ocean. Birds spend nearly half the year (July through November) at sea and don’t land until breeding season. Non-breeding albatrosses are found mostly near the Aleutians and the Bering Sea. Laysan albatrosses take off from breeding grounds in July and head northwest towards Japan, northeast in August, and then south again to breeding islands in November. Their range is limited by central Pacific winds because albatrosses depend on wind currents for sustained flight.
Biogeographic Regions: oceanic islands (Native ); pacific ocean (Native )
Laysan albatrosses eat mainly squid but also eat fish, fish-eggs, and crustaceans. They eat small sunfish (Ranzania laevis), flying fish and their eggs (Exocoetidae), wind-sailers (Velella velella), and crustaceans such as Eurythenes gryllus. These seabirds feed mainly at night when squid are plentiful in surface waters. They are surface feeders; they feed by sitting on the water and scooping up prey from just under the surface. They can rip apart larger prey with their beaks.
Animal Foods: fish; eggs; mollusks; aquatic crustaceans
Primary Diet: carnivore (Molluscivore )
Laysan albatrosses, aside from preying on squid and fish and being preyed upon by tiger sharks and rats, are also hosts for occasional parasitic species. Ectoparasites can cause parasite dermatitis. A new species of chigger was found on a Laysan albatross nestling.
Commensal/Parasitic Species:
Little is known about Laysan albatrosses and their economic importance for humans. Previously, Japanese feather hunters hunted albatrosses for their feathers. Currently, in the Hawaiian Islands, Laysan albatrosses are a tourist attraction and birders visit their breeding colonies.
Positive Impacts: body parts are source of valuable material; ecotourism
In the past, Laysan albatrosses have collided with aircrafts and occasionally with antennae towers. Because of these collisions, they may still face persecution on the main Hawaiian Islands.
Laysan albatrosses are listed as vulnerable to extinction in the IUCN Red List and protected under the U.S. Migratory Bird Act. Laysan albatrosses were hunted by the Japanese for their feathers. Laysan albatrosses were also killed by collisions with antennae towers and aircraft strikes and many were intentionally killed as well to reduce collisions. On the Hawaiian islands, eggs and birds are still removed from airfields to discourage nesting. On land, introduced predators and lead poisoning kill albatrosses as well. At sea, they are killed by oil pollution, floating plastics, nets, and fishhooks. Preventive measures adopted have been alternative long-line fishing techniques such as weighing lines down to scare away birds. Topsoil and grass has been imported to islands to stabilize sand dunes and increase available habitat. Protection in wildlife refuges on other Hawaiian islands help establish breeding colonies.
US Migratory Bird Act: protected
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: appendix i
State of Michigan List: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: near threatened
Laysan albatrosses have an elaborate courtship display that uses visual, tactile, and audio stimuli. During the courtship display, these albatrosses respond in unison to their potential mate, including a mutual bill-clicking display. When incubating eggs they make soft “eh-eh” sounds to the egg and to their partner. When males return to the breeding colony at the start of the season they make sky calls, in which males rise on their toes, point their bills at the sky and emit a long, single note.
Communication Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Laysan albatrosses are monogamous and known for their elaborate courtship displays. This courtship display is complicated and consists of 25 different postures, from clicking beaks together to tucking them under wings, to pointing them at the sky simultaneously. Only first time breeders and non-breeding birds perform this dance. Laysan albatrosses mate for life. Males and females start breeding around 8 to 9 years of age. Pair bonds are formed over several years – albatrosses may form the pair bond in their third year but not start breeding until they are 8 or 9. Laysan albatrosses do not change mates unless one dies, but changing mates decreases breeding frequency.
Mating System: monogamous
Laysan albatrosses breed once a year and lay one egg each time they breed. If the egg is lost, it is not replaced. The incubation period lasts for about 65 days, both parents take turns incubating the egg. The nestling fledges around 165 days after hatching and leaves the nest at about the same time because the parents stop feeding it. The nestling probably leaves out of hunger and must learn how to swim, fly, and feed out of necessity. Males and females copulate about 24 hours after arriving at the breeding colony. Within a couple of hours after copulation, both birds depart for sea and return after about 8 days. Upon her return, the female builds the nest for a day or so and then lays her egg. Nest construction continues during incubation, mostly by the female but the male contributes as well. Laysan albatrosses are colonial nesters. Nests are a depression in the sand or soil with a rim made of twigs, leaves, or sand.
Breeding interval: Laysan albatrosses breed once a year.
Breeding season: Laysan albatrosses breed from November to July.
Average eggs per season: 1.
Range time to hatching: 63.8 to 65.6 days.
Average time to hatching: 64.4 days.
Average fledging age: 165 days.
Average time to independence: 165 days.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 8.9 years.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 8.4 years.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; oviparous
Both sexes play an equal role in incubating the egg, maintaining the nest, and raising the young. The female on average incubates a few days less than the male does (29 vs. 36 days). Birds exchange incubation shifts, usually about 5 times, during the total period of incubation. Exchange occurs during the day, preceded by mutual preening. The relieved bird usually departs to find food within an hour. Both sexes develop an incubation patch that re-feathers after the egg is hatched. If the egg is displaced from the nest, the parent will not retrieve it. After the bird hatches, both parents play equal roles in feeding the chick regurgitated food, which usually consists of squid oil and flying fish eggs. The parent will only feed the chick at the nest site to ensure that it is feeding its own chick. The chick is brooded by the parent for the first few days and later guarded. Both parents take an equal role in guarding the chick.
Parental Investment: precocial ; pre-fertilization (Provisioning, Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Male, Female, Protecting: Male, Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Male, Female, Protecting: Male, Female); pre-independence (Provisioning: Male, Female, Protecting: Male, Female)
Laysan albatrosses (Phoebastria immutabilis), which forage throughout the North Pacific, are well known for their tendency to ingest plastic. Their flexible foraging strategy has potentially led to a decrease in their foraging efficiency as they ingest large amounts of plastic, which is in turn fed to their chicks. It is unclear just how often Laysan albatrosses encounter or ingest plastic and whether plastic is mistaken for prey, has natural food attached to it, or is consumed to assist in digestion as is sometimes done with pumice. Unfortunately, plastic ingestion leads to mechanical blockage of the digestive tract, reduced food consumption, inappropriate satiation of hunger, and potential exposure to toxic compounds. While there have been documented detrimental effects on the growth rates and fledging masses of chicks, it is still unclear what levels of mortality are caused by plastic ingestion. What is clear, however, is the source of the plastic: there is now so much floating marine debris accumulated in the North Pacific gyre that is it known as the "great garbage patch". This patch consists of high densities of floating plastic debris, particularly between 20° and 40° N, within a few hundred kilometres of the coast and in the gyre centres, between the tropical and subarctic waters. This area of concentrated debris consists of two accumulations: the "Western Garbage Patch" that occurs off Japan and the"‘Eastern Garbage Patch" located between Hawaii and California. These accumulations correspond to the locations of two sub-gyres within the North Pacific Gyre connected by a narrower band of marine debris north of the Hawaiian Archipelago (where 99% of Laysan Albatrosses breed). (Young et al. 2009 and references therein)
Young et al. (2009) investigated the questions of whether Laysan albatrosses nesting on widely separated islands (Kure Atoll and Oahu Island, separated by 2,150 km) exploit resources closer to their breeding colonies during the breeding season, how their foraging locations change throughout the reproductive cycle, and whether this leads to differences in plastic ingestion as represented in their boluses (regurgitated undigestable material). Determining how and where marine organisms come into contact with marine debris could have implications for the design of management strategies that mitigate its environmental impact. To track foraging behavior and plastic ingestion, Young et al. combined the use of electronic data logging devices to determine the at-sea distributions of adults with the collection of chick boluses to evaluate differences in plastic ingestion. The authors found that chicks from Kure Atoll were fed almost ten times the amount of plastic relative to chicks from Oahu despite boluses from both colonies having similar amounts of natural food. Foraging adults from Kure had a greater overlap with the putative range of the Western Garbage Patch, possibly explaining the higher plastic loads at this colony. Furthermore, every bolus examined from Kure Atoll contained multiple pieces of fishing paraphernalia, while only two boluses on Oahu contained any evidence of fishing line or tools (despite recreational fishing adjacent to the breeding colony on Oahu), suggesting that the threat from fisheries not only comes from bycatch for this species, but also from the consumption of fishing gear. It is unclear whether the Western Garbage Patch contains more trash than the Eastern Garbage Patch or if the size and composition of the pieces are easier for the birds to ingest compared to those found in the Eastern Garbage Patch.
The Laysan albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) is a large seabird that ranges across the North Pacific. The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are home to 99.7% of the population. This small (for its family) gull-like albatross is the second-most common seabird in the Hawaiian Islands, with an estimated population of 1.18 million birds, and is currently expanding (or possibly re-expanding) its range to new islands. The Laysan albatross was first described as Diomedea immutabilis by Lionel Walter Rothschild, in 1893, on the basis of a specimen from Laysan Island.[3]
It is named for Laysan, one of its breeding colonies in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
The Laysan albatross averages 81 cm (32 in) in length[4] and has a wingspan of 195 to 203 cm (77–80 in).[5] Males, which weigh 2.4 to 4.1 kg (5.3–9.0 lb), are larger than females, which weigh 1.9 to 3.6 kg (4.2–7.9 lb).[6][7] This albatross has blackish-gray upperwing, mantle, back, upper rump, and tail, and its head, lower rump, and underparts are white. It has a black smudge around the eye, and its underwing pattern varies between individuals, with some having narrower black margins and variable amounts of black in the underwing coverts. Finally, the bill is pink with a dark tip. Juveniles have a gray bill and a dark upper rump.[4] This species does not have a breeding plumage.[6]
The Laysan albatross is usually easy to identify. In the North Pacific, it is simple to separate from the other relatively common albatross, the all black black-footed albatross. It can be distinguished from the very rare short-tailed albatross by its all-dark back and smaller size. The Laysan albatross's plumage has been compared to that of a gull, two-toned with a dark gray mantle and wings and a white underside and head.
The Laysan albatross has a wide range across the North Pacific, with 16 nesting sites. All but 0.3% of the breeding population is found among the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, particularly the islands of Midway and Laysan. Small populations are found on the Bonin Islands near Japan and the bird has begun to colonize islands off Mexico, such as Guadalupe Island[4] and others in the Revillagigedo Archipelago. The Laysan Albatross is protected in Guadalupe Island Biosphere Reserve.[5] When away from the breeding areas, they range widely from Japan to the Bering Sea and south to 15°N.[4]
The Laysan albatross is normally a silent bird, but on occasion may be observed emitting long "moo"-ing sounds, descending whinnies, or rattles.[6] Female Laysan albatrosses may bond for life and cooperatively raise their young.[8]
A female Laysan albatross named Wisdom is the oldest known wild bird in the world. Wisdom was banded by a U.S. Geological Survey researcher in 1956, and in December 1956, she was seen rearing a new chick on Midway Atoll. Because Laysan albatrosses cannot breed until they are five years old, as of 2016, Wisdom was estimated to be at least 66 years old. Wisdom’s latest chick hatched on February 1, 2021, and her current estimated age is 70.[9][10]
Laysan albatrosses are colonial, nesting on scattered small islands and atolls, often in huge numbers, and building different styles of nests depending on the surroundings, ranging from simple scoops in the sand[11] to nests using vegetation.[4] They have a protracted breeding cycle, and breed annually, although some birds skip years.[4] Juvenile birds return to the colony three years after fledging, but do not mate for the first time until seven or eight years old. During these four or five years, they form pair bonds with a mate that they will keep for life. Courtship entails especially elaborate 'dances' that have up to 25 ritualized movements.
Occasionally, the birds form same-sex pairs consisting of two females. This has been observed in the colony on the Hawaiian island Oahu, where the sex ratio of male to female is 2 to 3 and 31% of all pairs are between females. Paired females can successfully breed when their eggs are fertilized by males.[12] This phenomenon has been useful to conservation efforts in the Hawaiian Islands, where researchers have successfully swapped unfertilized eggs from female-female pairs with fertile eggs translocated from pairs nesting on military airfields and in other unsafe nesting areas. The female-female pairs then hatch and raise the foster chicks.[13]
The single egg is buff-white[11] and may have spots.[14] Both birds incubate the egg; the male does so first. Incubation takes about 65 days, and is followed by several weeks of brooding, after which both parents are out at sea to provide for the growing chick. The chick takes about 160 days to fledge. This time investment by the parents may explain the long courtship; both parents want to be sure the other is serious. The chicks are fed regurgitated meals of very rich "stomach oil" and partially digested squid and fish by the parents.
The Laysan albatross and the black-footed albatross have been known to hybridize.[5][6] Like all albatrosses, the Laysan albatross is known to be a long-living bird. The oldest known live bird, a female named Wisdom, was at least 70 years old as of 2021.[15] In 2014 she hatched a healthy chick which is believed to be her 36th.[16][17] The longest lifespan confirmed for a wild seabird was for a breeding male found to have been banded 53 years previously. Other albatross are thought to match or maybe even exceed this record, but few confirmations of very old albatrosses exist.[18]
The Laysan albatross feeds predominantly on cephalopods,[19] but also eats fish, crustaceans, and other invertebrates.[20]
The IUCN had classified the Laysan albatross as vulnerable due to drastic reductions in populations, but the population may be rebounding.[1] The IUCN now classifies the Laysan albatross as near threatened. The Laysan albatross, while a common species, has not yet recovered from the wide-scale hunting of the early 1900s,[4] with feather hunters killing many hundreds of thousands and wiping them out from Wake Island and Johnston Atoll.[21] This slaughter led to efforts to protect the species (and others) which led eventually to the protection of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.[22]
The Laysan albatross has an occurrence range of 38,800,000 km2 (15,000,000 sq mi) and a breeding range of 3,500 km2 (1,400 sq mi) with a population of 1,180,000 mature birds estimated in 2006.[4] Midway Atoll, Laysan Island, and the French Frigate Shoals have more than 90% of the breeding pairs at 551,940.[23] Bonin Island has 23 pairs and offshore Mexico has about 400 pairs, with 337 pairs on Isla Guadalupe.[24] The northwestern Hawaiian Islands have suffered a 32% reduction in breeders from 1992 to 2002.[25][26] However, the last three years have had a rebound that stabilized the period between 1992 and 2005.[24] This species was extirpated from Wake Atoll, Johnston Atoll, and Minami Torishima. The Mexican population has been increasing since its inception.[4]
In the past, harvesting for feathers was a major threat, along with high-seas drift net, but both of these have ceased, barring some small-scale illegal drift net operations. Current threats today are the longline fisheries.
70% of the global population of Laysan albatrosses nest on Midway Atoll annually.[27]
In October 2009, an estimated 10,000 Laysan albatrosses nesting on Midway Atoll, part of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, were killed each year from lead poisoning.[28] The Laysan albatross has been globally listed as vulnerable to extinction by the World Conservation Union and is a special trust species on the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in the recently established national monument.
"Laysan chicks raised in nests close to 90 buildings left behind by the Navy are ingesting lead-based paint chips. This is causing shockingly high lead concentrations in their blood, leading to severe neurological disorders, and eventual death," said George Fenwick, president of American Bird Conservancy. "Federal funds are urgently needed to clean up this toxic mess to protect the Laysan albatross, as well as future visitors to the new Marine National Monument."[29] As many as 10,000 chicks, or 5% of hatched chicks, may be killed annually by exposure to lead-based paint. Many Laysan chicks that nest within 5 m of building structures exhibit a condition referred to as "droop wing", which commonly manifests itself in the chicks’ inability to raise their wings, which then drag on the ground, resulting in broken bones, infestations of maggots, and open sores. Chicks with droop wing will never be able to fly and will die of starvation or dehydration. Other chicks in close proximity to buildings also suffer detrimental effects from lead exposure. These chicks have blood lead concentrations that cause immunological, neurological, and renal impairments, significantly decreasing their chances of survival.
The Department of the Interior (DOI) estimated that $22.9 million was needed to clean up the toxic lead paint on Midway Atoll. The 95 federally-owned government buildings would need to be stripped of all lead-based paint and sand areas surrounding these old buildings thoroughly sifted to remove lead paint chips. When American Bird Conservancy staff presented the severity of this growing threat to an already imperiled bird species to DOI officials, they were told that the new Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument did not have any federal funds dedicated to its operation. Moreover, the DOI officials stated that the current federal budget for the nation's wildlife refuge system would be insufficient to prevent the continued ingestion of lead paint by Laysan chicks.
In February 2010, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) announced an impending lawsuit against the United States Fish and Wildlife Service for violations of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.[28] By September of that year, the Fish and Wildlife Service made plans to spend $1.4 million on cleaning the lead paint at the Midway Atoll military buildings, with plans to spend more than $21 million overall to removed paint chips from the soil and clean 71 buildings in total; the American Bird Conservancy reported that the clean-up would begin by July 2011.[30][31] In 2011, the Fish and Wildlife Service announced its plans to begin the clean up of lead-based paint at federal facilities.[32] By 2016, more than 20,000 cubic yards of lead-contaminated soil had been treated. In August 2018, Midway Atoll was declared lead-free after a long campaign of remediating the buildings and soils.[33]
At Kilauea Point on Kauai, Hawaii
At Kilauea Point on Kauai, Hawaii
At Kilauea Point on Kauai, Hawaii
At Kilauea Point on Kauai, Hawaii
At Princeville, Hawaii
The Laysan albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) is a large seabird that ranges across the North Pacific. The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are home to 99.7% of the population. This small (for its family) gull-like albatross is the second-most common seabird in the Hawaiian Islands, with an estimated population of 1.18 million birds, and is currently expanding (or possibly re-expanding) its range to new islands. The Laysan albatross was first described as Diomedea immutabilis by Lionel Walter Rothschild, in 1893, on the basis of a specimen from Laysan Island.
