How the bird was discovered
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Nine
years later: Munch was
found in Baja California
nesting
on an egg. (Steve Howell photo) |
On March 26, 1979
a Laysan Albatross was found wandering around the streets
of San Francisco unable to fly. The bird was captured and
brought to IBRRC in Berkeley, CA.
An examination revealed that all of the primary
and secondary feathers on both of the birds wings and all
of the tail feathers had been clipped about half way down
the shaft. We could only assume that someone thought this
bird would be a good pet and clipped its wings. The bird was
otherwise in good condition. The question then was what do
we do with a flightless albatross? Holding this bird until
it completed its annual molt in October was not a good option
for various reasons. These birds are difficult to keep in
captivity as they rarely self feed and are always aggressive
and difficult to handle. They prefer to just sit around and
in order to prevent secondary husbandry problems such as feather
damage and foot and keel sores we keep them floating in pools
at all times. They do not like this and it means that they
usually have to have a pool to themselves, as they are intolerant
of other birds in such close quarters and annoyed that they
can't get out of the water. These factors can all add up to
a lot of stress for a bird, making them susceptible to aspergillosis
and other diseases. The bottom line in albatross rehabilitation
is to keep them floating in clean water while in captivity
and get them released as soon as possible.
After reviewing all the facts, the idea of imping
the bird's feathers was brought up. Falconers originally developed
imping. It is a feather splicing technique where a whole feather
that matches the broken one is cut to fit with the other feather
making a whole feather. The feather shaft is then plugged
or splinted internally with something light but strong like
thin wire and then glued to the broken feather creating the
whole feather. This partially "fake" feather should
replace the broken one until the bird molts and grows a new
whole feather. That may be fine for a raptor as there are
usually plenty of feathers around but our problems were where
do you get an entire Laysan albatross body to get whole feathers
from? What kind of glue will hold up on a bird that relies
so heavily on the perfection of its feathers in a pelagic
environment?
The US Fish & Wildlife Service was very helpful
and sent us a dead Laysan albatross from Hawaii that had a
complete set of healthy feathers. A saltwater epoxy was located
and tiny drill bits were found that were thin, light and strong
enough to act as the internal support for each feather. The
actual imping procedure took only 30 minutes per wing. It
was most stressful on the people doing the procedure, as it
required four people, two to hold the bird still and two to
do the imping. The tail feathers proved too thin and were
not able to be imped but albatross tails are fairly short
anyway so we figured that it would probably not effect the
bird's flight.
After the procedure the bird was placed back
in its private pool and seemed to be oblivious to its new
feathers. The rehabilitation of this bird was otherwise simple
and basic albatross rehab. It was force fed daily and left
alone in the pool.
At that time it was thought that in order to give
the bird the best chance for survival it should be released
at least 200 miles offshore so that it could resume its natural
flight patterns. We now know that these birds regularly feed
within sight of the California coastline and we release albatrosses
within 25 miles of the mainland. At that time releasing the
bird just offshore was not an option.
Plan B was to send
the bird to a breeding colony
on one of the main Hawaiian Islands
but the Hawaii Department of Agriculture
did not agree with our plans fearing
that the bird could introduce
Newcastle's Disease to the islands.
However, it was agreed to possibly
release the bird into the breeding
colony on Midway Island. After
weeks of various tests for disease,
acquiring health certificates and
doing a lot of pleading and dealing
with government bureaucracy IBRRC
was given the OK to release the
bird on Midway Island, 1,000 miles
nortwest of Hawaii. On May 21,
with a $93.98 one way ticket to
Honolulu and an agreement by the
US Coast Guard to fly the bird
to Midway Island, the bird left
California.
It is important to point out that this bird received
a lot of attention from the press while it was at IBRRC. Several
feature articles about this animal's unusual story were featured
in the San Francisco Chronicle and other local papers. Although
we do not usually name birds the bird received the name "Munch"
by the press and those who need to name birds. Munch was an
accurate name as the bird was extremely aggressive and grew
even nastier after a few months of being handled daily. All
the staff that had to handle Munch was happy to see him go
and everyone, including the press, was anxious to know how
the release went.
Munch was released on May 22, 1979 into the Laysan
Albatrosses colony on Midway Island. The head game warden
on the island reported to IBRRC that as soon as Munch was
released he started a courting dance with another bird but
then acted disoriented for the first 24 hours. He also mentioned
that out of the hundreds of albatrosses they had handled while
doing their banding and monitoring projects, Munch was by
far the meanest bird they had ever come across. We attributed
his particularly nasty behavior to the almost two months of
being force-fed by humans. In short, we created a monster.
On July 23, 1979 we received a letter that gave a brief explanation
of the six days of observation that followed. His letter ended
with: Finally, on the seventh day, Munch disappeared into
the sunset, or so we would like to believe, as he can no longer
be located on the island. We sincerely hope he has joined
the more than 365,000 Laysan Albatross who yearly make Midway
Island their home. We will certainly notify you if he is one
of our recoveries next season.
Another fateful encounter
Nine years later, on February 20, 1988 IBRRC received
a call from Steve Howell, a seabird biologist. He asked if
I remembered an albatross that IBRRC had banded in 1979. He
explained that he was visiting Isla Guadalupe, a group of
small islands off of Baja California, and had heard that Laysan
Albatross had begun nesting there two years earlier. On January
25, 1988, he located 35 to 40 Laysan Albatross in their new
colony. Twelve were incubating single eggs. On closer inspection
he noticed that one had been banded. He gave me the band number
that was on the bird, 977-35061 and I looked it up. It was
Munch.
Munch made rehabilitation history by being the
first known imped albatross, and know she or he was making
albatross history. The Guadalupe colony is the first ever
east of Hawaii. That is about 2,500 miles from Hawaii. A week
later we received a picture of Munch on an egg.
Munch's discovery was a significant finding for
us. Of course, we had no way of knowing if the glue or the
feathers held up or if there were any other captivity related
problems that showed up once Munch was released. The rediscovery
of Munch showed us that albatrosses can be rehabilitated,
imping is a worthwhile tool for rehabilitators and that our
efforts had paid off. The fact that Much was reproducing was
significant as critics of rehabilitation often question whether
rehabilitated animals reproduce. And the fact that Munch lived
for 9 more years was just great news. Of all the birds that
IBRRC had cared for up until that point, Munch was hands down
the one that we all were the most curious about. The discovery
that Munch was alive, and a parent as well, was a dream come
true.
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