Sometimes albatross will hānai, or adopt, another bird's egg. Hhhhhmmmm, maybe the Short-tailed Albatross adults on Midway's Eastern Island had been incubating a Laysan Albatross egg instead of one of their own? Maybe the chick that hatched from the egg on January 14 is really a Laysan Albatross?
Careful scientists at the US Fish and Wildlife Service wanted to be sure their young bird was really a STAL. So, the bird scientists (ornithologists) sent pictures of the baby bird to experts at the Yamashina Institute of Ornithology in Japan. Result -->; the Japanese experts said, "Hai! Yes!"...the young chick really does look like a Short-tailed Albatross! In the video below you'll notice the chick has a very chunky bill, which is a STAL characteristic.
Also, the baby STAL should grow faster than chicks of other kinds of albatross, like Black-footed Albatross. The video shows the heads of a pair of BFAL adults in the front...but that's a STAL decoy, or model, on the right.
Also, the baby STAL should grow faster than chicks of other kinds of albatross, like Black-footed Albatross. The video shows the heads of a pair of BFAL adults in the front...but that's a STAL decoy, or model, on the right.
The STAL chick is almost a month old, and it seems to be doing well. How would you like your dad to feed you this way?! Yum!--
video by Pete Leary, Midway Atoll NWR Biologist
