The more-than-250 Laysan Albatrosses found on Kaua’i share a common bond with nearly 500,000 nesting pairs of Laysan and black-footed albatrosses found at the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge.
Both populations are healthy and thriving on their respective islands, according to federal and state officials.
During a survey in December, 21 volunteers counted nearly a half million pairs of Laysan and black-footed albatrosses at the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials announced in a news release.
Neither species is endangered, but the study was done to track population trends to preserve the bird species in the long run, Fish and Wildlife Services officials said.
“We are very pleased to see strong increases in numbers of nesting pairs of Laysan albatrosses this year, because overall declines had been observed over the last 10 years or so,” said Beth Flint, a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service office in Honolulu.
Last year’s count reflected a 53.9 percent increase in nesting numbers of birds since 2001, she said.
That’s good news for the birds and humans charged with helping them survive as a species, because only last year the Laysan Albatross was listed as “vulnerable,” downgraded from “least concern,” in federal Endangered Species Act lingo, after officials chronicled declines in numbers of at least 30 percent over three generations (84 years) at Midway, officials said.
Brenda Zaun, a wildlife biologist with the Kaua’i National Wildlife Refuge Complex, managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said because she has been tracking population trends at the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge, studies similar to the one recently conducted at Midway have not been done on this island.
Zaun said the Kilauea refuge boasts 91 Laysan albatross nests, accounting for 182 birds. “That is a slight increase in nests from last year,” she said.
There also are “non-nesters” in the area, those that don’t have a mate this year and those too young to nest but who hover in skies over the Kilauea refuge, Zaun said.
But non-nesting albatrosses eventually come to shore and engage in courtship dances to attract a mate, Zaun said.
Counting the bird species is not clear-cut work, she said. “You have to be cautious about population estimates. A slight increase could be attributed to food availability,” Zaun said.
The Laysan Albatross population at the Kilauea refuge may have increased due to protective measures set up by workers with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, she said.
Fences have been installed to protect the birds from roaming dogs and other predators, and to minimize their interaction with humans, who can disrupt the reproductive cycles of the birds, Zaun said.
Another 50 Laysan albatrosses live in habitats at the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility in Mana, according to Thomas Ka’iakapu, a wildlife biologist with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources district office on Kaua’i.
Zaun said as far as she knows, the albatross population is being monitored at PMRF.
Other Laysan Albatrosses live in the Princeville area, and along the coastline of Kilauea, Ka’iakapu said.
No studies have been done of the birds there, because they live on private land, Ka’iakapu said.
His agency has also not been involved with bird counts at the Kilauea National Wildlife Refuge or at PMRF, because the state agency has no jurisdiction over those federal properties on which the birds live, Ka’iakapu said.
Black-footed albatrosses are sometimes seen on Kaua’i, but “we have never found them (nesting) here on Kaua’i, and we don’t know why they don’t come here,” Zaun said.
Though the species has been seen off the inhabited islands of Hawai’i, they have not nested on any, possibly because they have yet to “increase their nesting range to include Kaua’i or the other inhabited islands,” Zaun said.
The project to count Laysan Albatrosses at the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge is only the fourth such effort in the past eight years, with previous studies done in 1996, 2000 and 2001, Fish and Wildlife officials said.
Staff Writer Lester Chang may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net.
