The latest chick of Short-tailed Albatrosses George and Geraldine on Midway Atoll is growing apace

"On March 2nd, George came to feed its youngster, and spent more time with it".  Photograph by J. Plissner

“The two-month-old Short-tailed Albatross chick has tripled in size and is nearly the size of the nearby adult Laysan and Black-footed Albatrosses”.

A remote camera has revealed that the chick is being fed by both parents, named affectionately George and Geraldine, but that the times between feeding visits vary considerably.  “Parents may alternate between long and short foraging trips to feed themselves and their youngster.  As the chick grows and is better able to protect itself from the hot, salty and windy conditions, the intervals between feeding become longer up until the time the chick can fly.”

A Black-footed Albatross P. nigripes visits the Short-tailed Albatross chick

Access past posts about George and Geraldine here.

Midway Atoll 's other well-known albatross  pair, 69-something Wisdom and mate Akeakamai, the Laysan Albatrosses P. immutabilis, are taking a 'gap year', having not laid an egg this season (click here).

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 11 March 2020