Laysan Albatross

The Laysan Albatross, Phoebastria immutabilis, is a large seabird that ranges across the North Pacific. This small (for its family) two-tone gull-like albatross is the second most common seabird in the Hawaiian Islands, with an estimated population of 2.5 million birds, and is currently expanding (or possibly re-expanding) its range to new islands. The Laysan Albatross was first described as Diomedea immutabilis by Lionel Walter Rothschild, in 1893, based on a specimen from Laysan Island.