March 3, 2014
We have been curious about the welfare of Wisdom’s 2012 chick. We know that she has returned to Midway, but what of her chick? This just in from Pete Leary, the USFWS Refuge biologist on Midway:
“We didn’t get Wisdom’s chick banded in 2012 because it kicked off its temporary band, and then we could never be sure of which chick it was. The chicks were at the wandering stage and there weren’t any that consistently went to that nesting spot. However, none of the chicks died in that little area, so we are pretty confident that it fledged. Look on the bright side, now there’s a hopeful possibility that any Laysan albatross you see could be Wisdom’s chick.”
And, on another but related note, look who’s feeding their 2013 chick on Midway!
Follow these links for beautiful footage of the Golden Gooney!
http://bit.ly/1fjJUaC (3 minute video)
http://bit.ly/1jLoDcD (2 minute video)
Caption: The only known successful nest outside of three islands near Japan, this short-tailed albatross feeds his chick on January 22, 2014 at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. Sixty-five years ago short-tailed albatross were presumed extinct.
Many thanks to Susan Middleton for the news!