Laysan Albatross

Phoebastria immutabilisOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Albatross (Diomedeidae)

Codes: Common Name: LAAL Scientific Name: PHOIMM ITIS Taxonomic No.: 554378

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Overview

Laysan Albatross: Large seabird with dark brown back and white head, neck, and rump. Eye patch is dark. Bill is thick and yellow with gray, hooked tip. Wings are dark brown above and white below with irregular brown-black borders. Tail is dark brown-black with white coverts. Legs and feet are pink.

Range and Habitat

Laysan Albatross: Breeds on isolated islands in the central Pacific Ocean, mostly on Hawaiian chain islands. At other times it is found throughout the northern oceans, primarily around Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands.

Topo Map: Perching-like Body

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"Eh-eh Eh-eh-eh"

Interesting Facts

The Laysan Albatross is the second most common seabird in the Hawaiian Islands, with an estimated population of 2.5 million birds.

This bird is named for Laysan, which is one of its breeding colonies in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

Albatrosses can fly for miles without flapping their wings. They let winds and rising air currents do the work for them.

A group of albatrosses are known collectively as a "flight", "rookery", and "weight" of albatrosses.

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Laysan Albatross

● Song: "Eh-eh Eh-eh-eh"

● Foraging & Feeding: Laysan Albatross: Diet consists mostly of squid; also eats fish, fish eggs, and crustaceans; usually forages at night when prey is near the water surface.

● Breeding & nesting: Laysan Albatross: One dull, white egg spotted with brown is laid in a shallow ground depression lined with leaves, twigs, and sand. Incubation ranges from 65 to 66 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Laysan Albatross: Black-footed Albatross has uniformly dark body and head. Short-tailed Albatross has larger, heavier bill, all-white underwings, yellow wash on nape, and white back.

Flight Pattern

Dynamic soaring., Stays aloft for hours with little flapping of wings.

● Range & Habitat: Laysan Albatross: Breeds on isolated islands in the central Pacific Ocean, mostly on Hawaiian chain islands. At other times it is found throughout the northern oceans, primarily around Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands.

^BreedingMonogamous, Colonial

^PopulationYes but uncommon

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight113.6 Ounces

Perching-like Body

Rump

The area between the uppertail coverts and the back of the bird.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America