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It is so neat to see Laysan Albatrosses nesting on the front lawns of people in the town of Princeville in Kauai. Last year when I was there the chicks were much smaller if you remember those images (check them out in my Hawaii album). Now the adults leave the young and fly thousands of miles even to BC to find food for them.
Entrando en la pintoresca plaza de uno de los pueblos más bonitos de España. www.lospueblosmasbonitosdeespana.org/castilla-y-leon/laal...
Like a high school yearbook photo, that awkward age for a mōlī must be in between the cute downy fuzziness of a hatchling and a magnificent, resilient flight-feathered, full-fledged bird. The brown down within reach of its bill seems to be plucked out by the albatross as feathers emerge until only the inaccessible down on the head remains resulting in variously patterned, humorous-looking coiffures. This bird is only a week or two from heading out over the Pacific on a solitary journey of several years until returning to the colony to find a life-long monogamous mate.
Tail raised and webbed feet extended as air brakes, a male Laysan albatross is on final approach for landing at the nesting colony. This mōlī (banded V340) has returned from months of nomadic soaring and solitary foraging at sea and will reestablish its pair bond with a monogamous mate through an elaborate courtship dance. Though a bit awkward on land, albatrosses are magnificent in the air.
Returning to land after months and traversing tens of thousands of solitary miles wandering over open ocean, this mōlī, or Laysan albatross, was one of the first to arrive at the nesting site for this year’s breeding season. This female bird was color banded V141 on 30 April 2015 after hatching in February 2015, making her almost eight years old in this photo.
After months of solitary wandering over tens of thousands of miles of the north Pacific, male Laysan albatrosses (mōlī) return to the breeding colony ahead of the females every season. With strong site fidelity, this male mōlī works on a nest in the same location as the previous year and appears to scan the sky while waiting for the return of his monogamous mate. The nest is a simple scrape. This bird was banded O390 as a nestling in 2008. His mate for at least the past five years was banded O052 in 1993, making her one of the oldest birds in the Ka’ena Point colony. If she has survived the year, I hope to see her return soon and reestablish their bond.
A beautiful mōlī, or Laysan albatross, explores the nesting colony in a quest to establish a long-term monogamous mate and opportunity to breed. Returning to land after months, perhaps years, and traversing tens of thousands of solitary, nomadic miles over open ocean, mōlī exhibit high natal philopatry and mate fidelity.
A group of juvenile mōlī gather around an adult and nestling seemingly in a meet and greet or to perhaps gather the wisdom of an experience parent. Socializing juveniles often seem curious and inquisitive about nestlings in the breeding colony.
A Laysan albatross glides over a nest site at the breeding colony searching for its mate after months of solitary wandering of tens of thousands of miles over the north Pacific. Returning with strong mate fidelity, birds search to reestablish the bond with their mate. When the likely prospect is found, an intricate courtship dance ensues with grunts, whistles, head bobbing, sky calling, bill fencing, and other elaborate visual and auditory ritual repertoire. Olfactory clues are also likely involved. Juveniles and vagrants from other colonies may also do the courtship dance seeking to establish a bond with an initial or new mate.
This Laysan albatross nestling will grow much larger over the next couple months, lose its fuzzy down to resilient flight plumage, and be abandon by its parents. It will unfold its 6 foot wingspan and learn to fly by its own primal, genetically programed urge. It will traverse thousands of miles of pelagic ocean, yet rarely rise above 75 feet into the air; its world flat and visually featureless far from land. Its acute olfactory sense will guide it to ocean upwelling sites where it will surface forage for squid and fish eggs. In 3 to 5 years, it will find its way back to the tiny terrestrial colony of its birth and began prospecting for a future mate through an elaborate courtship ritual of visual displays, sounds, and scent. Beginning at 5 to 8 years of age, it will co-nurture its own nestling for several months with its monogamous mate, then return to nomadic, solitary soaring over the sea. It will return to find its mate and produce and egg most nesting seasons for more than 60 years.
With light and variable morning winds a Laysan albatross majestically checks the direction. Large birds built for dynamic soaring, albatross benefit from the airspeed lift provided by a headwind, without which they may not be able to takeoff. After determining wind speed and direction, this one clumsily walked considerable distance to find a clearing with enough running room for liftoff in a light sea breeze. After airborne on two meters of high aspect ratio wingspan, this beautiful mōlī gracefully glided across the breeding grounds in lazy eights then banked out to sea. Albatross spend many solitary months and thousands of nomadic miles at sea only returning to land to nest. O871 was banded as a chick at Kaena Point NAR in 2013.
Gliding effortlessly into the wind, a mōlī makes a low pass over a beach on the north shore of Oahu. It will turn out to sea and wander for thousands of miles over the Pacific using its remarkable olfactory acuity to locate surface forage at upwelling sites. Expending very little energy on flight, this mōlī, or Laysan albatross, efficiently uses dynamic soaring to skim the water, rising on the wind and descending forward by gravity acceleration. Bones lock into position requiring no muscle to keep the six foot wing span extended.
Returning to land after months, maybe years, and after solitary nomadic wandering over tens of thousands of miles of the Pacific Ocean, Laysan albatrosses (Phoebastria immutabilis) perform elaborate courtship rituals to establish, or reestablish, a life-long monogamous pair bond. These beautiful mōlī spent the morning displaying to each other before leaping off the shoreline escarpment and gliding out to sea.
V460 banded as an adult 4/23/2018 near Mokuleia by USDA/APHIS/WS.
The female albatross at left (KP163) is at least 18 years old in this photo since she was banded as an adult in 2006. She seems to have lost her long-term monogamous mate (O289); he hasn’t been observed for several seasons. I saw her attending a hatchling in the 2019-20 season, but she has been courting other albatrosses, not nesting, since then. Laysan albatross are not sexually dimorphic, so I’m not sure if the bird at right (O939) is male or female (it was not genetically tested during banding.) It may be a potential suitor looking for an opportunity to establish a bond and mate, or perhaps an empathetic female. It’s difficult not to be anthropomorphic with these birds that display such elaborate, complex behavior.
Albatross have unique, complex, and long duration courtship rituals that result in lifetime monogamous pair bonding. The courtship dance includes bill fencing, bobbing, preening, and often synchronized “sky calling” as a part of the repertoire. Rapid beak clapping, grunts, and whistles provide an aural component. Scent is likely also involved in mōlī mate recognition. An abridged ritual repeats each breading season reestablishing the pair bond after months of nomadic solitary foraging at sea.
A mōlī performs an exploratory aerial survey. Experienced adults reestablished their pair bond earlier in the season and are tending chicks, while juveniles are still searching for a future mate. If an eligible prospect is found, an elaborate courtship dance of visual displays, sounds, and scent is performed to establish a bond. It may take several seasons to establish mate fidelity and produce their first progeny.
A Laysan albatross returns to the breeding colony after months at sea. This one seemed curious as it turns to fly over me. Albatross are among the most energy efficient flyers. Their high aspect ratio wing is most efficient for long distance gliding. Bones lock into position requiring no muscle to keep the six foot wing span extended. At sea it will have an oscillating glide path as it rises on orographic lift off wave faces then gravity accelerates into the wave troughs to glide for thousands of miles across the Pacific. Seemingly nomadic wandering over open ocean is actually guided by its remarkable olfactory acuity enabling location of surface forage at upwelling sites. The aerodynamics of albatross flight are fascinating, but it is the nearly effortless calm beauty and aerial grace that keeps me enviously watching them for hours.
In the mottled shade under a beachside ironwood tree, a weeks-old Laysan albatross awaits its next feeding. This mōlī nestling will grow much larger over the next couple months, lose its fuzzy down to resilient flight plumage, and be abandon by its parents. It will unfold its 6-foot wingspan and learn to fly by its own genetically encoded primal urge. It will traverse tens of thousands of miles of pelagic ocean, yet rarely rise above 75 feet into the air; its world flat and visually featureless far from land. Its acute olfactory sense will guide it to ocean upwelling sites where it will surface forage for squid and fish eggs. In 3 to 5 years, it will find its way back to the tiny terrestrial colony of its birth and began prospecting for a future mate through an elaborate courtship ritual of interactive visual displays, sounds, and scent. Beginning at 5 to 8 years of age, it will co-nurture its own nestling for several months with its monogamous mate, then return to nomadic, solitary soaring over the North Pacific. If all goes well, it will return to find its mate and produce an egg most nesting seasons for more than 60 years.
Albatross are among the most energy efficient flyers. Their high aspect ratio wing is most efficient for long distance gliding. This one banks left rotating its whole body while its head remains level with the horizon, tapping into the horizontal lift component. Bones lock into position requiring no muscle to keep the six foot wing span extended. At sea it will have an oscillating glide path as it rises on orographic lift off wave faces then gravity accelerates into the wave troughs to glide for thousands of miles across the Pacific. Ostensibly nomadic wandering over open ocean is actually guided by its remarkable olfactory acuity enabling location of surface forage at upwelling sites. The aerodynamics of Laysan albatross, or mōlī, flight are fascinating, but it is the seemingly effortless, calm beauty, and aerial grace that keeps me enviously watching them for hours.
Banking out to sea on high aspect ratio wings, this mōlī will wander for thousands of miles over the Pacific using its remarkable olfactory acuity to locate surface forage at upwelling sites. Expending very little energy on flight, albatross efficiently use dynamic soaring to skim the water, rising on the wind and descending forward by gravity acceleration. Bones lock into position requiring no muscle to keep the two meter wingspan extended. Interesting how their heads remain level with the horizon but the entire body rotates, sometimes almost 90 degrees, to turn using the horizontal component of lift.
Under a shady canopy of ironwood trees, this handsome mōlī scrapes together a shallow nest in the needle-like leaf litter and waits for his mate. Laysan albatrosses with established pair bonds are the first of the season to arrive at the breeding colony. Males generally arrive first in mid-November and stake out a nesting site; females arrive a few days or so later. After a reaffirming courtship dance followed by mating, the couple return to nomadically soaring over the north Pacific for about two weeks to forage and fatten up for the rigors of nesting. The pair return to the nest where the female lays a single egg then departs to replenish the enormous energy deficit required to produce a soda can sized egg. The male takes the first incubation shift and fasts for about two weeks until the female returns to relieve him. They alternate incubation duties and foraging with increasingly shorter shifts. If all goes well, the egg will hatch in about 60 days.
Under a shady canopy of ironwood trees, this handsome male mōlī takes the first incubation shift. Laysan albatrosses with established pair bonds are the first of the season to arrive at the breeding colony. Males generally arrive first in mid-November and stake out a nesting site, females arrive a few days or so later. After a brief reaffirming courtship dance followed by mating, the couple return to nomadically soaring over the north Pacific for about two weeks to forage and fatten up for the rigors of nesting. The pair return to the nest where the female lays a single egg then departs to replenish the enormous energy deficit required to produce a beer can sized egg. The male takes the first incubation shift and fasts for two weeks until the female returns to relieve him. They alternate incubation duties and foraging with increasingly shorter shifts. If all goes well, the egg will hatch in about 60 days.
A Laysan albatross glides over a nest site at the breeding colony searching for its mate. After months of solitary wandering of tens of thousands of miles over the north Pacific, male Laysan albatrosses (Phoebastria immutabilis) return to the breeding colony and prepare a simple scrape nest in the same location as the previous year. Returning with strong mate fidelity female birds search the nest sites with a low pass looking for their mate while the nester searches the sky. Juveniles that have not yet established a life-long bond or curious visitors from other colonies may also make a flyby inspection looking for a potential mate.
Not much to do alone in the nest. Pluck out some itchy down. Wait for those flight feathers to fill in. Hope for another parent provided meal soon. This Laysan albatross chick seems bored. This nestling is now almost as large as an adult bird. It requires both parents to spend most of their time travelling up to thousands of miles over the Pacific to forage on a surface upwelling of fish, squid, or fish roe, found with the acute olfaction of their tube noses. This chick is expected to fledge in a few weeks after growing larger than the adults that are providing it a diet of high caloric oily meals retained in the proventriculus portion of the adult’s stomach, then regurgitated after returning to the nest. Shortly before completely fledged, it will be abandoned to learn to fly and feed on its own. If all goes well, natal philopatry will return the juvenile to the nesting colony after three to five years at sea to begin establishing a long-term monogamous mating bond and breed at age five or older.
With life-long, monogamous, mate fidelity, two Laysan albatross reestablish their bond at the breeding colony after months of solitary wandering of tens of thousands of miles over the north Pacific. After returning to the colony they perform elaborate recognition and courtship behaviors that include bumping their bills together, commonly referred to as “billing,” “bill fencing,” or, romantically anthropomorphic, the “kiss of the albatross.” Besides the complex repertoire of tactile and visual displays, there may be olfactory recognition associated with the close contact.
With two meters of high aspect ratio wingspan, a Laysan albatross rides the orographic lift adjacent to a sea cliff. At sea it will have an oscillating glide path as it rises on orographic lift off wave faces then gravity accelerates into the wave troughs to efficiently glide for thousands of miles across the Pacific. Mōlī (Phoebastria immutabilis) spend many solitary months and thousands of nomadic miles at sea only returning to land to nest.
A beautiful mōlī, or Laysan albatross, appears to proudly show off her nestling; the result of a successful breeding season. Actually, covering and uncovering the chick was for thermoregulation on a windy, partially cloudy day; there was no sense of parental pride (or was there?). Albatross produce only one egg during nesting season and take some seasons off, especially when they molt, due to the high energy expenditure. Both adults take turns foraging for food. Alternating, one takes up to two weeks at sea while the other fasts on the nest nurturing the nestling. Larger chicks able to thermoregulate are left alone as it requires both parents to spend most of their time travelling up to thousands of miles to accomplish their hunt for surface forage of squid, fish, and fish eggs, usually in ocean upwellings found with the acute olfaction of their tube noses. This chick is expected to fledge in a few months after growing larger than the adults that are providing it a diet of high caloric, oily meals retained then regurgitated from the proventriculus portion of the adult’s stomach. It will then be abandoned to learn to fly and forage on its own. If all goes well, natal philopatry will return the juvenile to the nesting colony after three to five years at sea to begin establishing a long-term monogamous mating bond and breed at age five or older.
Happy World Albatross Day!
A pair of Laysan albatrosses engage in billing or bill fencing. Albatrosses with established pair bonds are the first of the season to arrive at the breeding colony. Males generally arrive first in mid-November and stake out a nesting site, females arrive a few days or so later. After a brief reaffirming courtship dance followed by mating, the couple return to solitary nomadically soaring over the north Pacific for about two weeks to forage and fatten up for the rigors of nesting and brooding. Juveniles and vagrants from other colonies may also do the courtship dance seeking to establish a bond with an initial or new mate. When a likely prospect is found, an intricate courtship dance ensues with grunts, whistles, head bobbing, sky calling, bill fencing, and other elaborate visual and auditory ritual repertoire. Olfactory recognition is also likely involved.
Under a shady canopy of ironwood trees, this young mōlī twosome begin establishing a life-long, monogamous pair bond. Laysan albatrosses with established pair bonds are the first of the season to arrive at the breeding colony. This pair arrived later and performed multiple elaborate courtship dances and even practiced nest building. It may take several seasons before they successfully mate and hatch an offspring.
Albatrosses exhibit natal philopatry, returning to the colony from which they were hatched about five years later, after reaching reproductive maturity. Through elaborate courtship displays, they endeavor to find a lifelong mate and to establish their own nest. However, sometimes individuals visit other colonies or elect to seek a mate elsewhere. The auxiliary band data on the gorgeous bird on the right indicates it was ringed as a chick on Tern Island, French Frigate Shoals on 26 June 2010, 534 miles from where it was photographed interacting with the inhabitants of the Kaena Point colony.
A gorgeous Laysan albatross waddles around the nesting colony on a sunny morning searching for its mate. Awkward walking on land, albatrosses are aerially magnificent. This female bird in a stately pose was banded as an adult in March 2007 indicating she is over 16 year old in this photo.
Though a bit awkward on land, albatrosses are magnificent in the air. Airborne albatrosses are masters of dynamic soaring requiring little metabolic energy or wing flapping. This mōlī has returned from months of nomadic solitary foraging at sea and will reestablish its pair bond with a monogamous mate through an elaborate courtship dance. Laysan albatrosses with established pair bonds are the first of the season to arrive at this breeding colony in the sand dunes of the north shore of Oahu. Males generally arrive first in mid-November and stake out a nesting site, females arrive a few days or so later. After a brief reaffirming courtship dance followed by mating, the couple return to nomadically soaring over the north Pacific for about two weeks to forage and fatten up for the rigors of nesting. The pair return to the nest where the female lays a single egg then departs to replenish the enormous energy deficit required to produce a beer can sized egg. The male takes the first incubation shift and fasts for two weeks until the female returns to relieve him. They alternate incubation duties and foraging with increasingly shorter shifts. If all goes well, the egg will hatch in about 60 days.
Under naupaka kahakai, this gorgeous mōlī claims prime nesting territory. Laysan albatrosses with established pair bonds are the first of the season to arrive at the breeding colony. Males generally arrive first in mid-November and stake out a nesting site, females arrive a few days or so later. After a brief reaffirming courtship dance followed by mating, the couple return to nomadically soaring over the north Pacific for about two weeks to forage and fatten up for the rigors of nesting. The pair return to the nest where the female lays a single egg then departs to replenish the enormous energy deficit required to produce a beer can sized egg. The male takes the first incubation shift and fasts for two weeks until the female returns to relieve him. They alternate incubation duties and foraging with increasingly shorter shifts. If all goes well, the egg will hatch in about 60 days.
www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=zTu.... The most beautiful, romantic little steam train, the 'laal ratty'.
A three-month-old mōlī stretches and exercises its downy wings. Probably cooling in the breeze under the tropical sun, and perhaps feeling a bit of lift, it seems determined to someday fly. This mōlī, or Laysan albatross, nestling will grow much larger over the next couple months, swap its fuzzy down for resilient flight plumage, and be abandon by its parents. It will unfold its six foot wingspan and learn to fly by its own primal, genetically programed urge. It will traverse thousands of miles of pelagic ocean, yet rarely rise above 75 feet into the air; its world a flat and visually featureless olfactory landscape far from shore. Its acute tubenose sense of smell will guide it to ocean upwelling sites where it will surface forage for squid and fish eggs. In 3 to 5 years, it will find its way back to the tiny terrestrial colony of its birth and began prospecting for a future mate through an elaborate courtship ritual of visual displays, sounds, and scent. Beginning at 5 to 8 years of age, it will co-nurture its own nestling for several months with its monogamous mate, then return to nomadic, solitary soaring over the sea. If successful, it will return to find its mate and produce an egg most nesting seasons for more than 60 years.
At the end of the nesting season, a Laysan albatross makes a low pass over the beach and heads out to sea. It will wander for thousands of miles over open ocean using its remarkable olfactory acuity to locate surface forage at upwelling sites. Expending very little energy on flight, this mōlī efficiently uses dynamic soaring to skim the water, rising on the wind and descending forward by gravity acceleration. Bones lock into position requiring no muscle to keep the six foot wing span extended.
Albatross have unique, complex, and long duration courtship rituals that result in lifetime monogamous pair bonding. The courtship dance includes bill fencing, bobbing, preening, and often synchronized “sky calling” as a part of the repertoire. Rapid beak clapping, grunts, and whistles provide an aural component. Scent is likely also involved in mate recognition. The entire ritual repeats each breading season after the pair return from months of nomadic solitary foraging at sea. These two mōlī were banded and identified as O013 at left, a male banded as an adult in 2004 at Kuaokala, and V830, banded as an adult at Ka’ena in 2021.
A male Laysan albatross, or mōlī, regurgitates a brownish oily stream of a meal into the open mouth of a one week old nestling. Parents alternate feeding duty, providing a daily meal for the first couple weeks, then less frequently as they forage further from the nesting colony. Departing for days, and then weeks, the chick will be left alone for longer periods until it fledges. The albatross parents wander for hundreds, often thousands, of miles to surface forage on squid, fish, and fish eggs, usually in ocean upwellings found with the acute olfaction of their tube noses. Rich, high-caloric oil derived from their prey is retained in the proventriculus portion of the stomach for feeding to the chick upon return to the nest. Banded O390.
Tail raised and webbed feet extended as air brakes, a Laysan albatross is on final approach for landing at a breeding colony. This mōlī has returned from months of nomadic soaring and solitary foraging at sea and will reestablish its pair bond with a monogamous mate through an elaborate courtship dance.
Airborne albatrosses are masters of dynamic soaring requiring little metabolic energy or wing flapping. But they are also large, heavy birds that require a lot of airspeed under a six-foot, high aspect ratio wingspan to initially get off the ground. On a sufficiently windy day they can leap into the air for an effortless liftoff. With no wind, a high-powered running takeoff is required. This takeoff run is a significant amount of the albatross’ daily energy demand, far more than flight duration or flight distance.
With life-long, monogamous, mate fidelity, a pair of Laysan albatross reestablish their bond at the breeding colony after months of solitary wandering for tens of thousands of miles over the north Pacific. After returning to the colony, they perform elaborate recognition and courtship behaviors that include a complex repertoire of tactile and visual displays. There may also be olfactory recognition associated with the close contact. This gorgeous couple, resting after their dance, seem quite enamored.
Returning to land after months of nomadic wandering over tens of thousands of miles of open ocean, this mōlī, or Laysan albatross, was one of the first to arrive at the nesting colony for this year’s breeding season. Mōlī wander for thousands of solitary miles over the Pacific using their remarkable olfactory acuity to locate surface forage at upwelling sites. Expending very little energy on flight, albatross efficiently use dynamic soaring to skim the water, rising on the wind and descending forward by gravity acceleration. Bones lock into position requiring no muscle exertion to keep the two-meter wingspan extended. I can watch them tirelessly for hours, envious of their effortless soaring.