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title: "UPDATED.  Who’s a big boy then? Midway Atoll’s latest Short-tailed Albatross chick gets its bands - and fledges a month later"
---

# UPDATED.  Who’s a big boy then? Midway Atoll’s latest Short-tailed Albatross chick gets its bands - and fledges a month later

1. *![2023 16 April USFWS Laura Brazier and Jon Plissner on Midway Atoll band the STAL chick. FWS Volunteer Andrew Sullivan Haskins 1](https://www.acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Albatrosses/S/Short_tailed/2023_16_April_USFWS_Laura_Brazier_and_Jon_Plissner_on_Midway_Atoll_band_the_STAL_chick._FWS_Volunteer_Andrew_Sullivan-Haskins_1.jpg)  
USFWS Bio-technician Laura Brazier and**Supervisory Biologist**Jon Plissner band Midway’s latest Short-tailed Albatross chick on 16 April 2023, photograph by USFWS Volunteer Andrew Sullivan-Haskins  
“**Wow! What a big chunky fuzzball” – Hob Osterlund, [Kaua'i Albatross Network](https://albatrosskauai.org/wp/)*

 The 2022/23 Short-tailed Albatross *Phoebastria albatrus* chick on the [Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge](https://www.acap.aq/news/news-archive/2013-news-archive/acap-breeding-site-no-36-midway-atoll-black-footed-laysan-and-short-tailed-albatrosses-within-a-world-heritage-site) was banded last month, with uniquely numbered metal and green plastic bands, the latter for easy recognition at a distance. Noticeably larger than the surrounding Laysan Albatross *P. immutabilis*chicks, the Short-tail chick is the fourth to be reared to banding age by its parents, the well-known pair George and Geraldine, on Sand Island since 2019.

 **![2023 16 April green band. FWS Volunteer Andrew Sullivan Haskins 1](https://www.acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Albatrosses/S/Short_tailed/2023_16_April_green_band._FWS_Volunteer_Andrew_Sullivan-Haskins_1.jpg)*  
On goes the green MOO colour band,**photograph by USFWS Volunteer Andrew Sullivan-Haskins*

 The 2022/23 chick has been observed interacting with its four-year-old and thee-year-old siblings who have been returning to the island as pre-breeding juveniles, as recorded on a wildlife field camera.

 *![2023 May Geraldine and chick USFWS Volunteer Scott Wolff](https://www.acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Albatrosses/S/Short_tailed/2023_May_Geraldine_and_chick_USFWS_Volunteer_Scott_Wolff.jpg)  
Close to fledging? Geraldine returns to feed her chick and then settles down to watch it exercise its wings on 6 May 2023, photograph by USFWS Volunteer Scott Wolff*

 The chick’s parents were originally banded on the [Vulnerable](http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/short-tailed-albatross-phoebastria-albatrus) species’ stronghold, [Torishima](https://www.acap.aq/latest-news/acap-breeding-site-no-65-torishima-where-short-tailed-albatrosses-have-survived-both-feather-collectors-and-an-active-volcano) and are currently the only Short-tailed Albatrosses breeding east of Japan. Three chicks were banded on Eastern Island in the atoll between 2010/2011 and 2013/2014, reared by a different Short-tailed Albatross pair. An unbanded male in adult plumage was found freshly dead on 13 December 2014 on the island from unexplained causes ([click here](https://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwspacific/albums/72157649422150748/)), and was initially thought to be one of the breeding pair.

 Access the many earlier *ACAP Latest News* articles about George and Geraldine, and other Short-tails on Midway, from[here](https://www.acap.aq/search?q=Short-tailed+Midway&Search=&w1=before&d1=&w2=before&d2=).

 **UPDATE. ** The Short-tailed Albatross chick was videoed successfully fledging on the afternoon of 23 May, flying towards the fringing reef. "Despite the moderately strong winds and rough seas; the bird seemed to be faring well as it continued making its way south of Spit Island and out of sight" (read more details on the [Friends of Midway National Wildlife Refuge](https://www.facebook.com/FriendsofMidwayNWR) Facebook page).

 *Video by  by Fish and Wildlife Service  volunteer, Alex Teodorescu*

 " The chick was still present near the nest on May 20th. The chick’s father [George] was last at the nest site on May 5 and its mother [Geraldine] was present from May 5-May 8. One of the chick's older siblings (either the 2019 or 2020 chick) revisited the site May 16-19." (information from a game camera).

 *John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, *Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 30 May* 2023, updated 02 June 2023*