Rubber Band Birds

When they are on Midway, the peculiar whistling and clacking albatross calls are the loudest bird sounds of anybody.  Sounds from the Red-tailed Tropicbirds are also loud and squawk-y.  But what does Midway sound like when the albatross and Tropicbirds have flown away?

White Terns are year-around Atoll residents.  Don't you think they make a sound like the twanging of a rubber band?!


Rubber Band Birds from Barb Mayer on Vimeo.

"Banyan Chick" -- a Fairy Tern

I haven't yet done a FOAM post about one of the prettiest birds here on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge.  Its official name is White Tern (Gygis alba rothschildi.)  Many people call it Fairy Tern, which I like better because I think it gives you an idea of how pretty it is.

The bird is also known as Manu o Ku, and is an important bird in Polynesian navigation.  In the morning, Manu o Ku is generally flying away from land for a day of fishing.  Toward the end of the day the bird is returning to land.  This information helps a navigator know which way land is.

When I first arrived on Midway the White Terns were pairing up, and some still are.  A male and female Tern, who are thinking about choosing each other as mates, fly together in the blue sky, sometimes really high.  It's amazing to see them!  They are flying very close together, almost wing tip to wing tip, and are making dips and circles, never crashing into each other.  I don't know how they do it!

White Terns mating in an ironwood tree.

banyan tree, with my bicycle for scale