---
title: "Hope for a new colony: two Black-footed Albatrosses seen courting within the Kaena Point Natural Area Reserve"
---

# Hope for a new colony: two Black-footed Albatrosses seen courting within the Kaena Point Natural Area Reserve

Two Black-footed Albatrosses *Phoebastria nigripes* are being seen regularly within the [Kaena Point Natural Area Reserve](https://www.acap.aq/en/news/news-archive/60-2013-news-archive/1333-acap-breeding-sites-no-14-kaena-point-oahu-hawaii-protects-its-laysan-albatrosses-and-wedge-tailed-shearwaters-behind-a-predator-proof-fence?highlight=WyJrYWVuYSIsIm5vIiwiJ25vIl0=) on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, according to a [Facebook posting](https://www.facebook.com/prconservation/) by the NGO [Pacific Rim Conservation](https://pacificrimconservation.org) which monitors breeding Laysan Albatrosses *P. immutabilis* within the reserve.

  ![](https://www.acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Albatrosses/B/Black_footed/Blackfoot-pair-Kaena-Point-Feb-2019-PRC.jpg)

 Forming a pair? Two Black-footed Albatrosses interact in the Kaena Point Natural Area Reserve, photograph from Pacific Rim Conservation

 One bird has been seen in the predator-proof fenced reserve since early January (banded purple V541) and was joined by a second Black-footed Albatross in mid-February. The two birds have been seen undertaking courtship dances regularly.  A few Black-footed decoys have been present for some years and the occasional bird has been seen on site since at least 2013.

 Because the majority of Black-footed Albatrosses breeds on low-lying atolls, the establishment of a breeding colony at Kaena Point, protected from predicted sea level rise by its altitude, would add to the efforts being made to establish another colony on Oahu, by hand-rearing translocated Back-footed Albatross chicks in the [James Campbell Wildlife Refuge](https://www.fws.gov/refuge/james_campbell/) ([click here](https://www.acap.aq/en/news/latest-news/2702-from-low-to-high-translocating-black-footed-albatross-chicks-from-midway-to-oahu-to-combat-sea-level-rise?highlight=WyJqYW1lcyIsImNhbXBiZWxsIiwiY2FtcGJlbGwncyIsImphbWVzIGNhbXBiZWxsIl0=)). This project, also operated by Pacific Rim Conservation, is now in its third year ([click here](https://www.acap.aq/en/news/latest-news/3234-year-three-translocating-black-footed-albatross-chicks-to-start-a-new-colony-is-underway-in-hawaii)).

 *John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 04 March 2019*