photo by Paul, the "Journalist on the Loose" |
I and my fellow volunteers checked to see which LAAL (Laysan Albatross) chicks are healthy and still alive in plot # L10. This is called "reproductive success." The picture shows me with a stick that we use to nudge each chick into a standing position so that we can see the plastic band on its leg. Each chick has a different number on its band; that's how we can tell which chick is which. Doesn't the Laysan Albatross chick look healthy; see all its black, fluffy down...with just the beginning of its adult white feathers!
(By the way, that's the US Fish & Wildlife Refuge office right behind my hat.)
2 comments:
Very Cool Albatross. Thank you for posting the photos. Please tell us more:
So this year the reproductive success is high? How much longer until the chicks fledge? Have you noticed any boluses? Talk to you soon and thanks.
Hi Birdhead; thanks for your interest! I'll try to find answers to your questions about Laysan Albatross reproductive success and fledging time (when a young bird loses at last almost all of its downy feathers and gets strong body and flight feather) when I go to work tomorrow.
In the meantime I can say that Adam, my partner volunteer, collected 2 boluses today! Tomorrow I'll also try and get some bolus photos and tell you about our bolus protocol.
Right now perhaps check out the next post: Auntie Moana has given us a picture of a Laysan Albatross chick with its plastic band!
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