(c) Glen Tepke

The Laysan Albatross is best known for its gliding flight, awkward landings, and elaborate courtship rituals. These birds spend nearly half the year at sea, not touching land until breeding season. Though large for a seabird, the Laysan is small for an albatross. They may live more than 40 years. These birds are named for Laysan, one of their Hawaiian island breeding colonies.

Appearance: The average Laysan measures 32 inches in length and weighs 6.6 pounds, with a wingspan often exceeding six feet. Sexes are similar, with gull-like plumage. The head, neck, and rump are white; the tail, upper wing surfaces, wingtips, and back are dark. Under-wing patterns vary. The eyes are recessed beneath dark ridges which help shade the eyes. The hooked bill is salmon-colored with a gray tip. Tube nostrils on each side aid in salt removal. The legs and feet are flesh-colored, and the toes fully webbed.

Range & Distribution: Most Laysans breed on islands within the Hawaiian archipelago, including Kauai; more than half select Midway Island as their breeding colony. The birds then disperse into the North Pacific Ocean from July to November. Non-breeding Laysans concentrate near the Aleutians and in the Bering Sea. In the mid-1980s, a new colony was found on Guadalupe Island off central Baja, California; others colonies now exist on Japan's Bonin Islands, and on several islands off the coast of western Mexican—a significant range extension.

Habitat: Laysans nest in sandy, grassy areas on low atolls, sometimes near taller vegetation. Non-breeding birds reside primarily on the cold open ocean. Habitat is related to the distribution of squid—the bird's primary food source. Squid, in turn, are found near the shrimp-like euphausids upon which they feed.

Feeding: While squid make up the bulk of the Laysans' diet, the birds also consume flying fish eggs, crustaceans, fish, natural carrion, and refuse from ships. Laysans, often feeding in flocks, sit on the water, where they seize prey near the surface with their powerful beaks. Utilizing their high levels of rhodopsin—the visual pigment that enhances nocturnal vision—the birds feed mainly at night, when squid tend to surface.

Reproduction: Laysans first breed at about nine years of age. Experienced males arrive at breeding colonies in early November, with females following a week later, and first-time breeders a month later. Elaborate courtship dances performed by both sexes include bowing or swinging the head, mutual preening, and pointing bills skyward. Following copulation, both sexes participate in nest building. The nest is a shallow depression with a built-up rim on open ground. One creamy white, brown spotted egg is incubated by both parents for about 64 days. Upon hatching, one parent stays with the young while the other forages; the two then switch roles. Parents may forage as far as Alaska in search of food for the nestlings. Chicks are fed via regurgitation by both parents, and depart the island at five and a half months of age.

Migration: Laysans leave their Hawaiian breeding grounds in July; most go northwest toward Japan, then northeast toward the Aleutian Islands. Non-breeders wander throughout the North Pacific, and are often observed off Alaska in summer and off California in winter.

References: Whittow, G. Causey. 1993. Laysan Albatross (Diomedea immutabilis). In The Birds of North America, No. 66 (A. Poole and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, D.C.: The American Ornithologists' Union.

Kaufman, Kenn. Lives of North American Birds. Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, 1996

Safina, Carl. Eye of the Albatross: Visions of Hope and Survival. Henry Holt and Company, New York, 2002.

Sibley, David Allen. The Sibley Guide to Birds. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York, 2000