3 
Laysan Albatross ( Diomedea immutabllis ) 
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Current Status ; Occasionally breeing. 
Prior Records ; Munro (19^1), members of the Rothschild Expedition of l8fl>- 
reports seeing their first Laysan Albatross in the vicinity of Nihoa. 
Fisher (1906) reports seeing "only one or two Diomedea immutabllis west 
of the island some miles" during his visit June 1-3, 1902. Other 
records are Munter (1915), Wetmore (1923), Richardson (1957)* Rice 
and Kenyon (1962), and Kramer (1961). 
Population: Munter (op. cit) reported "perhaps 50 birds" and one half-grown 
nestling on March 18, 1915. Wetmore (op. cit) reported two birds on 
June Ik, 1923. Richardson (op. cit) reports this species "breeding 
in small numbers." He presumably made this statement on the basis 
of his December 1953 and March 195^ trips to Nihoa but he does not 
give population figures for either trip. Rice and Kenyon (op. cit) 
estimated 500 nests on the basis of an aerial survey on December 28, 
1957. However, they stated that the possibility exists, of confusing 
albatross and boobies. 
The POBSP has records, of this species, from two trips to Nihoa 
during the breeding season. Thirty-eight adults were counted on 
March 6, 19ft and 11 adults were counted on March 2k, 1965. These data 
indicate a small, but regularly occurring,population on Hihoa. 
Reproduction : Available data indicate that the Laysan Albatross has d breeding 
' •eyerie that extends from November to mid-July, and is uniform throughout the 
Leeward Islands (POBSP). This species has been recorded as breeding on Nihoa 
only three times. Munter (op. cit) recorded a half-grown nestling on March 18, 
1915. Richardson (op. cit) reports them as breeding but does not mention the 
numbers or stage of breeding found on his two trips. Rice and Kenyon (op. cit) 
reported 500 nests but could not, of course, determine the stage of breeding 
