Midway Island is famous for the 400,000 breeding pairs of Laysan's Albatross (70% of the world's population.) The Laysan Albatross or "white gooney" can weigh up to 7 pounds and has an 80 inch wing span. They are also very long-lived, and one banded albatross here is more than 45 years old. The albatross lay their eggs in mid-December and the young fledge in July. Young birds spend 5 years at sea before returning to Midway to breed for the first time. These are views of birds on Sand Island (photo to left) and Eastern Island (below left & right).

Most nests are a small depression in the sand to which the same parents return each year. Occasionally, an adult sitting on an egg and later a juvenile waiting to be fed, will pick up plants and debris within reach and pile the nest higher.

An albatross fledging with marine debris and an abandoned egg at its nesting spot. Birds defend a small territory within the reach of their long bills, but tend to ignore everything else going on around them, including planes landing on the air field, and guys with digital cameras.