{"id":2605,"date":"2019-02-25T20:32:42","date_gmt":"2019-02-25T20:32:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/gemmlab\/?p=2605"},"modified":"2019-02-26T03:31:24","modified_gmt":"2019-02-26T03:31:24","slug":"midway-atoll-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/gemmlab\/2019\/02\/25\/midway-atoll-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Midway Atoll: the next two weeks at the largest albatross colony in the world (two years later)"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Rachael Orben, Assistant Professor (Senior Research), Seabird Oceanography Lab<\/em><\/p>\n

This February I had the opportunity to spend two weeks at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge<\/a>\u00a0in the\u00a0Papah\u0101naumoku\u0101kea Marine National Monument<\/a>.\u00a0I was there to GPS track black-footed and Laysan albatross during their short chick-brooding foraging trips. Two weeks is just enough time since the albatross are taking short trips (3-5 days) to feed their rapidly growing chicks.<\/p>\n

My first visit to Midway (2016 blog post<\/a>) occurred right as the black-footed albatross chicks were hatching (quickly followed by the Laysan albatross chicks). This time, we arrived almost exactly when I had left off. The oldest chicks were just about two weeks old. This shift in phenology meant that, though subtle, each day offered new insights for me as I watched chicks transform into large aware and semi-mobile birds. By the time we left, unattended chicks were rapidly multiplying as the adults shifted to the chick-rearing stage. During chick rearing, both parents leave the chick unattended and take longer foraging trips.<\/p>\n