Female Short-tailed Albatross Incubating Her Egg

US Fish and Wildlife Service staff have observed a pair of short-tailed albatross incubating an egg on Eastern Island, Midway Atoll NWR. The adult male was banded as a fledgling on Torishima Island, Japan in 1987. The female was banded as a fledgling in 2003, also on Torishima. If the pair's effort is successful, this would mark the first confirmed hatching of a short-tailed albatross outside of Japan in modern history! As you can see, Midway Atoll is favored by Laysan albatross. It is in fact, the largest albatross colony in the world with an estimated 1.5 million birds.