Laysan albatross and its economic importance

Abstract

Scope of Study: The basis for this study is the problem of bird and aircraft collisions on and near airplane runways. This study was conducted on the habits of the Laysan albatross (Diomedea immutabilis) which is contributing to the airstrikes on Midway Island in the north Pacific. The study involves the population, distribution, nesting and flight patterns of the albatross. Emphasis is placed on the experimental methods that have been tested as means of alleviating the strikes near the airstrips on Midway.

Findings and Conclusions: The Laysan albatross nest only on the Leeward chain which is part of the Hawaiian Archipelago. They return to these islands every year to lay their eggs and to raise their young.

The population of the birds has recently been found to be considerably higher than was previously recorded. This revised estimate is the result of the banding program that is in progress on Midway Island.

The birds spend a good deal of the time in the air soaring over the ocean looking for food. During the nesting season they soar over the runways at Midway where they are occasionally in collision with aircraft.

Two killing programs have been conducted on Midway by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Department. Over 34,000 birds have been killed yet this failed to reduce the number of birds that soar over the runways.

It is the feeling of most of the biologists that the problem can be reduced considerably if the area seven hundred fifty feet from the center of the runway be flattened; this will reduce the air currents in which the birds love to soar.