Friends of Midway Atoll

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

Home/Plants & Wildlife/Birds/Wayne Sentman recalls the November 1999 “mating dance” and the work accomplished to attract endangered albatross to Midway.

Wayne Sentman recalls the November 1999 “mating dance” and the work accomplished to attract endangered albatross to Midway.

The Oceanic Society and Sierra Club group visitors give the Midway Atoll's supply of short-tailed albatross decoys a fresh coat of paint in 2002.

In November of 1999 as a young biologist, I watched as the late Emeritus Board Member Rob Shallenberger, acting Refuge Manager on Midway, tried to play “matchmaker” to two Short-tailed Albatross (STAL) that had shown up on Sand Island at the same time. After a brief dance, exchange of a call, one of the birds turned around and flew away, dashing all our hopes for love at first sight.

While individual STAL had been recorded at Midway since 1938, there had been no reliable record of a nesting pair to that point. In 2000, I was part of a group of volunteers that helped erect one of the first STAL decoy plots (with a solar-powered sound system) on Eastern Island, near to a lone male that had been showing up annually. A decoy artist from Japan supplied beautifully painted porcelain birds as role models.

A few years later, another 20 or so Laysan Albatross decoys were repainted as so-called “Golden Goonies” by an Oceanic Society / Sierra Club group visiting Midway Atoll and added to the others. In 2010/2011, the hard work paid off as Midway Atoll had its first documented hatching of a STAL chick on January 14, 2011. That same chick survived a March 2011 tsunami, and went on to successfully fledge in May 2011.

Visitors ready the Short-tailed Albatross decoys for out-planting in a prepared plot on Eastern Island.
In 2000, Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge Manager helped Wayne Sentman set up a decoy plot on Eastern Island.
Despite the persistence of an aggressive and invasive shrub (Verbesina encelioides)–that once consumed and choked-out nesting sites on Eastern Island, this Short-tailed Albatross plot managed to attract the attention of several Short-tailed Albatross traveling the North Pacific.
A Short-tailed Albatross sits among the decoys.
A true survivor! U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Biologist, Greg Schubert completes the honor of banding Midway first documented Short-tailed Albatross chick on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. This bird was also the survivor of the March 2011 Japan tsunami that later fledged in May 2011. Photo Credit: USFWS

Article by Friends of Midway Atoll President, Wayne Sentman

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