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Friends of Midway Atoll

Friends of Midway Atoll

Preserving, protecting, and restoring the biological diversity and historic resources of Midway Atollal Wildlife Refuge

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Home/Explore & Learn/Plants & Wildlife/Birds/Albatrosses/Laysan albatross

Laysan albatross

Hawaiian name: mōlī

Scientific name: Phoebastria immutabilis

Photo credit: Megan Dalton
  • Life Span: > 40 years
  • Wingspan: 195-203 cm (6.4-6.7 ft)
  • Breeding ecology:
    • Monogamous (mostly), philopatric (returning to nest in the same area year after year)
    • 1 egg/clutch, 1 egg/year
    • Male incubates 2-3 weeks post-laying
    • Incubation lasts around 65 days
    • Chicks hatch from January through February, fledge about 5 months post-hatching
    • Adults can travel >1,500 kilometers (>930 miles) to forage during incubation and chick-rearing
    • Feed chicks via regurgitation of oil and solids
    • Known for elaborate mating dance
  • >70% of the world’s Laysan albatrosses nest on Midway, 99% nest in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands
  • Military activity killed many birds on Midway Atoll during World War II. Between 1954 and 1964, 54,000 birds were killed as a result of control measures to reduce risk of collisions with aircraft at Midway. From 1964–1965, collisions with communications antennas on Eastern Island killed more than 3,000 adults. Antennas here were demolished in 1967.
  • Wisdom, the world’s oldest known breeding bird in the wild, nests exclusively on Midway Atoll.

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Friends of Midway Atoll

17 Katrina Lane
San Anselmo, CA 94960

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