Two pairs of the short-tailed albatross, thought to remain only on two Japanese islands, have been found nesting on Kure Atoll and on Midway Atoll, American wildlife refuges in the Hawaiian Islands.

Until now, the last remaining breeding colonies of the birds were thought to have been on the Japanese islands. The total adult population of the species is only about 3,000.

The new finding brings hope that the bird might propagate beyond Japan, said Jessica Hardesty Norris, director of the Seabird Program at the American Bird Conservancy, a conservation organization.