Birds of Midway Atoll
Seventeen species of seabirds nest each year on islands within Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. The largest albatross colony in the world is on Midway Atoll with an estimated 1.5 million birds. The total population of nesting seabirds is nearly 2 million. For a more in-depth look at Midway's bird fauna, please click on one of the items listed below:
Natural History of Midway's Birds:
Short-tailed Albatross (Phoebastria albatrus)
Black-footed Albatross (Phoebastria nigripes)
Laysan Albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis)
Christmas Shearwater (Puffinus nativitatis)
Wedge-tailed Shearwater (Puffinus pacificus chlororhynchus)
Bonin Petrel (Pterodroma hypoleuca)
Red-tailed Tropicbird (Phaethon rubricauda rothschildi)
White-tailed Tropicbird (Phaethon lepturus dorotheae)
Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster)
Masked Booby (Sula dactylatra)
Red-footed Booby (Sula sula rubripes)
Great Frigatebird (Fregata minor palmerstoni)
Brown Noddy (Anous stolidus pileatus)
Black Noddy (Anous minutus melanogenys)
Sooty Tern (Sterna fuscata oahuensis)
Gray-backed Tern (Sterna lunata)
White Tern (Gygis alba rothschildi)
Laysan Duck (Anas laysanensis )
Quick Reference to Seabirds and Shorebirds (pdf 20K)
Seabird Weight and Wingspan Comparison (pdf - 19k)
Midway features the world's largest colony of Laysan Albatross (452,609 nesting pairs) and the largest colonies of Red-tailed Tropicbirds, Black Noddies and White Terns within the Hawaiian archipelago. One very rare species at Midway is the Short-tailed albatross, or "Golden Gooney" which last nested successfully on Sand Island in 1962. The various seabird species that do nest at Midway divide the limited habitat by selecting different sites to lay their eggs, such as burrows under the ground, surface sites in the open or under the vegetation and perches within shrubs or taller trees. Midway's native (or indigenous) bird fauna also includes a small variety of arctic nesting shorebirds, such as Bristle-thighed Curlews and Ruddy Turnstones, and a long list of vagrant species that have been observed in small numbers over the years.
Midway Atoll NWR bird list and estimated seabird populations as of 2006 (pdf - 49k)
