Black-footed albatross chicks moved to Oahu

Fifteen black-footed albatross chicks have been imported from Midway Atoll to Kahuku to try to establish a breeding colony on Oahu’s North Shore, but any success won’t be evident for years.

It’s still unknown whether black-footed albatrosses ever bred on Oahu. But a new project by Pacific Rim Conservation, the Papaha­naumokuakea Marine National Monument, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and David and Lucile Packard Foundation aims to help save a species of gooney bird that’s particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels and storm surge on Midway, home to the Battle of Midway National Memorial in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

“Albatross are at the greatest risk because they nest primarily on these low-lying atolls,” said Eric VanderWerf, president of Pacific Rim Conservation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection of native wildlife. “The black-footed albatross often live right on the beach, and they are the most exposed to big waves and sea level rise.”

About 60,000 pairs of black-footed albatrosses are believed to exist in the wild, including in Japan and Mexico, but “95 percent of the pairs rest in Hawaii” in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, VanderWerf said. The closest black foots to Oahu are believed to be an estimated 30 breeding pairs on Lehua, west of Kauai.

So 15 3-week-old black-footed chicks were flown from Midway to Oahu on Feb. 16 and taken to the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge in Kahuku.

Hand-fed, they’ve been gorging on a slurry of squid, fish, sardines, salmon oil, Pedialyte — a rehydration fluid — and vitamins and have increased their body weight 15 percent. They’re now the size of 3-pound, fuzzy soccer balls.

Unlike Midway, their new home is 15 feet above sea level in a grassy field blocked by sand dunes as high as 25 feet, VanderWerf said. The chicks are also protected by a chain link fence that’s 6-1/2 high but has quarter-inch wire mesh to keep out predators as small as mice.

The goal is to safeguard the chicks until this summer, when they’ll be old enough and big enough to fly out toward California and Mexico. They will instinctively know how to navigate and fish.

For now the hope is that the chicks will adopt the refuge as their new home and return to breed in a few years.

“Albatross will imprint on the site that they view as home when they’re about 1 month old,” VanderWerf said. “They will view James Campbell Refuge as their home. Then they’ll go out to sea and will stay there for the next several years, maybe four to five years. We won’t know if this project works until they come back and breed at 6 to 9 years old. They’ll probably pick a mate from the group they came (from Midway) with.”

In the meantime 25 more black-footed chicks will be flown in from Midway in each of the next two years.

“Midway Atoll is home to one of the largest black-footed albatross populations in the world,” Bob Peyton, Midway Atoll Refuge and Memorial Project leader, said in a statement. “As conservation managers, it is important we use good science to evaluate other options that might protect these seabirds into the future. Refuges like Midway Atoll and James Campbell provide the healthy habitat that black-footed albatross, and other seabirds, needs to thrive.”

The black-footed albatross project is similar to ongoing efforts to breed Laysan albatrosses at the Campbell refuge.

Over the last three years, 50 Laysan chicks also have been imported to the refuge.

“They’re also doing great,” VanderWerf said.

The Laysan population is believed to be 10 times greater than their black-footed cousins, and they can be found in the wild at Kaena Point.