Happy Family

Yesterday, Saturday, I found the first albatross egg of the season! It belongs to a pair of Blackfooted Albatross that reside near the end of the abandoned air strip on the northwest side of the island, an area known as "Rusty Bucket" (this will mean more when I get around to posting a map).

Aren't they just a little ridiculously perfect? Procellariiformes (the order that albatross belong to) are generally believed to be one of the few orders that is primarily monogamous. The theory being that because a pair will only have one egg a season, and the parents have to travel so far from their breeding grounds to find the food, both parent are absolutely necessary in raising the offspring, which leaves little room for there to any paternal doubt. In general, the more paternal doubt, the less paternal investment. If I remember correctly, there is genetic data supporting this theory in Storm Petrels.

And for the cherry on top (literally), if you were wondering about the metal pole behind the pair: