Necrotizing enteritis as a cause of mortality in Laysan albatross, Diomedea immutabilis, chicks on Midway Atoll, Hawaii

A necropsy survey of Laysan albatross, Diomedea immutabilis, chicks on Midway Atoll in June 1993, 1994, and 1995 revealed 54% (21/39), 67% (49/71), and 93% (15/16), respectively, to have enteritis as the most severe pathologic finding. The lesion was limited to the ileum, ceca, and large intestine. We were unable to attribute a single infectious etiology to this lesion. Many birds with enteritis also exhibited renal lesions similar to those encountered in chickens experimentally deprived of water. We propose that enteritis is a significant cause of mortality in Laysan albatross chicks on Midway and that it may be a sequela to dehydration. It is likely that the pathology of dehydration in Laysan albatross differs from that in chickens largely because of diet.