Science & Tech · Science & Environment · 3 hrs ago
George and Geraldine reunite for their 10th nesting season on Midway Atoll
George and Geraldine have reunited for a 10th straight nesting season on Midway Atoll, a wildlife refuge near Hawaii.
The pair are short-tailed albatrosses, a species that nests on islands across the Pacific.
They were first seen together on Midway in 2016, and had their first chick during the 2018-2019 breeding season.
They are the only short-tailed albatross pair breeding on Midway, although other birds of the species were seen there last season.
The species is endangered in the United States and Hawaii, after feather hunting nearly drove it to extinction around the turn of the 20th century.
Its population is estimated at about 10,000, and biologists at the refuge have used decoys and recorded calls since 2000 to attract more birds.
George and Geraldine’s reunion marks another nesting season; the sources do not say whether they will have a chick this year.
George and Geraldine, a pair of endangered short-tailed albatrosses, have reunited for their 10th straight nesting season on Midway Atoll.
George was first spotted on October 18, and the pair was reunited by October 22.
They are the only breeding pair of short-tailed albatrosses on Midway Atoll.
The pair first appeared together at the refuge in 2016 and had their first chick during the 2018-2019 breeding season.
The short-tailed albatross population is estimated at around 10,000.
- Who
- George and Geraldine, a pair of short-tailed albatrosses.
- What
- They reunited for their 10th straight nesting season on Midway Atoll.
- When
- George was first spotted on October 18, and the pair was reunited by October 22. The year is not stated.
- Where
- Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge near Hawaii.
- Why
- They have returned for nesting season. The sources do not give a more specific reason.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
George and Geraldine were first seen together on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge.
The pair had their first chick.
George was first spotted on Midway Atoll.
George and Geraldine had reunited for nesting season.
- Nesting season
- 10th straight year
- Species
- Short-tailed albatross
- First seen together
- 2016
- First chick
- 2018-2019 breeding season
- Estimated population
- Around 10,000
What people are saying
The slowly growing population is estimated at around 10,000 today.
Since 2000, biologists at the [Midway Atoll National Wildlife] refuge have used short-tailed albatross decoys and audio playback of the seabird’s calls to attract more of them.