Birds

The Moby Dick of Albatross

July 19, 2012 by Felonious Jive 5 Comments

Midway Atoll has hundreds of thousands of Laysan Albatross…it is the biggest nesting colony of Laysan Albatross in the world. During my legendary tenure there, I saw a lot of albatross chicks. They are pretty much everywhere. I can’t even really fathom how many I saw. But there is one that I remember better than most…Moby Dick, The Great White Albatross Chick.

Moby Dick’s true gender is not actually known of course, but he was the only leucistic albatross chick I found. I was sad to leave Midway for many reasons, but one of them was that I was unable to see what Moby Dick would look like once he shed all his baby down and took off into the Pacific.

Here’s is what your run-of-the mill Laysan Albatross chick looks like, for comparison.

Moby Dick lived at the edge of a shady forested area, and being a giant white thing, he really glowed when the sun hit him. He was also the only albatross around with blue eyes…surely, if he lived long enough, he would be a lady killer.

Midway lore says that a few chicks like Moby Dick are found every year, but for reasons unknown none have ever made it back to the island after fledging. Perhaps he will be the first. Future Midwayians, remember this face…you may meet him after all.

 

 

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Baby Bird Week is our celebration of the young, the cute, the adorable, the twee. We certainly spend enough time on adult birds here on 10,000 Birds so we figured it would only make sense to fawn over the fuzzy bundles of fluff that grow up to become the objects of our fascination. Whether you seek out waterfowl, songbirds, or seabirds we will have baby birds to match your obsession.

Baby Bird Week will run from 15-21 July, Sunday until Saturday. Make sure to check back every day or even multiple times a day to keep up with all the baby bird goodness!

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Written by Felonious Jive
The Great Ornithologist Felonious Jive is indisputably the world’s greatest birder. As a child, Felonious was involved in a tragic accident that left him blind and crippled. Miraculously, he began regaining his faculties while parked at a window that faced his family’s bird feeder. Following his full recovery, he continued his pursuit of birds past his family’s yard and out across the globe. Now, his identification skills are unmatched by anyone living, dead, or unborn. Although considered a living deity in the birding community, his avian abilities have made him critical of his comparatively inexperienced peers. This has won him no popularity contests, although he remains much sought-after by birdwatchers of the opposite sex. His close colleague Seagull Steve writes of his exploits at Bourbon, Bastards and Birds.