satellite view from PMNM
E komo mai; welcome! Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge is surrounded by a lei of foam in the middle of the North Pacific; it's a beautiful, special place.

Not only are there albatross on Midway, but many other interesting kinds of wildlife, both on the land and in the sea. Please enjoy exploring FOAM, an educational blog actively done while on Midway from May through August 2010. Posts are added from off-Midway, as information becomes available. If you're interested in a particular topic, please use the search box or the alphabetical list of "labels" along the left side of the blog page.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Red-tailed Tropicbirds Grow Up

adult RTTR
Red-tailed Tropicbirds (RTTR) look very angry, with the black feathers around their eyes, and they make terrible squawking sounds.  But they are really beautiful birds.
  • Look at that red bill!
  • Look at that long, thin, reddish tail feather!  
  • Look at those glossy, white feathers!
These magnificent ocean birds mate, nest and raise their chicks during the summer on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge.  Here are some "kid pictures" of RTTR--

(2) probably still in the DFC stage
(1) adult with DFC (downy feathered chick)














(4) made it to the FFC stage!
(3) maybe getting to the PFC (partially feathered chick) stage

The chick on the right is called a fully feathered chick, an FFC.  It's not an adult yet, since it doesn't have a red bill,  but it is ready to be banded!

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