ME AND WHOOOOOOO

This is the courting dance of the laysan albatross (mōlī in Hawaiian) Its especially sweet when you consider that they mate for life and are the longest living birds! The oldest bird alive right now is a female named Wisdom. Shes thought to be around 70 and has raised 36 chicks!

The vast majority of the species (99.7%, or over 1 million albatross) live in the Northwestern Hawaiian islands. Once hatched, chicks spend about 6 months sitting in exactly the same spot while parents bring them food

Sadly, this food is often plastic, as it can look similar to the food the parents hunt for. Nearly every albatross has plastic in their system :( @.JennyJinya made a comic that makes me cry about this

Once fledged, the albatross will take off and hopefully fly. If they dont, theyll likely be eaten by tiger sharks who prowl the waters near albatross nesting sites, looking for those who couldnt take off and get stuck in the water

Once they do make it in the air, however, they stay airborne, flying over the sea alone for THREE YEARS. They eat and sleep in the air and return only to seek a mate. Theyre only capable of mating after about 8-9 years, so sometimes partners stick together for years before mating

At Ka'ena point, a Laysan albatross nesting site on O'ahu (where i live!), the population is 59% female. This has led to about 31% of the nesting pairs (about 17 out of 60) consisting of two female albatross! Wildlife workers occasionally swap in fertilized eggs for them to raise

The writer Noah Strycker sums it up perfectly “There’s love, then there’s albatross love.” Have a nice day yall :)

@Wrldonpaws thats so adorable 🥺

@Mamat_Mreko Oh my goodness these are good ones. Thank you.