The Laysan Albatross

The Laysan albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) is a large seabird that ranges across the North Pacific. The northwestern Hawaiian islands are home to a 99.8 per cent population. With an estimated population of 2.5 million birds, this small gull-like albatross is the second most common seabird in the Hawaiian Islands and is increasingly expanding its range to other islands.

The Laysan albatross was first described in 1893 by Lionel Walter Rothschild as Diomedea immutabilis, based on a description from Laysan Island. It is named after Laysan, one of their breeding colonies, in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. The Laysan albatross has a total length of 81 cm, and 195 to 203 cm wingspan. Males weighing between 2.4 and 4.1 kg and weighing between 1.9 and 3.6 kg, are heavier than females. The albatross has blackish-gray upper head, breast, back, upper rump, and tail, with white hair, lower rump, and subparts. It has a black smudge across the eye, and the underlying trend is different between individuals, with some having larger black margins and differing amounts of black in the underlying coverings. In the front, the bill is purple, with a black tip.

It has a brown bill with a upper black rump on it. There is no plumage to this genus for breeding. At 16 breeding sites the Laysan albatross has a wide range across the North Pacific. Between the Northwest Hawaiian Islands, in particular the Midway and Laysan Islands, all but 0.3 per cent of the breeding population is found. Small colonies are found near Japan on the Bonin Islands, and the species has begun colonising islands off Mexico like Guadalupe Island and others in the Revillagigedo Archipelago. Once away from the breeding grounds, they disperse extensively, from Japan to the Bering Sea. The Laysan albatross is typically a silent animal but it can be heard intermittently making long "moo , in clicks, down whinnies, or rattles. Female Laysan albatrosses must mate for life and work to raise their children. A female Laysan albatross named Wisdom is the oldest known wild bird in the United States or the Northern Hemisphere. Laysan albatrosses are territorial, ranging from simple scoops in the sand to vegetative dens, nesting on remote small islands and atolls, sometimes in large numbers, and constructing various types of dens based on the environment. They have a long period of breeding, and collect regularly, even though some birds can skip years. Three years after fleeing, young birds return to the colony, but do not mate until the age of seven or eight for the first time. Throughout the duration of these four or five years, we establish pair relationships with a partner which they will maintain for life.

Courtship involves especially intricate ' dances ' which have ritualised up to 25 steps. The Laysan albatross feeds mostly on cephalopods, but eats fish, crustaceans and other invertebrate species as well. The IUCN has classified the Laysan albatross as endangered due to major population losses but the population may be rebounding. The IUCN currently classifies the Laysan albatross as near-endangered. While a common bird, the Laysan albatross has also not returned from the wide-ranging search of the early 1900s, with feather hunters killing several hundred thousand and driving them out of Wake Island and Johnston Atoll. This slaughter resulted in attempts to protect the habitat and eventually helped save the Northwest Hawaiian Islands. The habitat is still vulnerable to longline harvesting and consumption of floating pollutants, leading to high levels of plastic waste.

Wild cats are known to be preying on pregnant birds and chicks on some of the more recently colonised islands. Big headed bees are a threat to young albatross chicks in some situations. On Midway Atoll, part of the Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Park, lead poisoning kills thousands of Laysan albatrosses each year. The Laysan albatross has been listed by the World Conservation Union as vulnerable to international extinction, and is a special trust sanctuary on the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in the recently created national monument.