A look back at some of the biggest bird conservation stories of 2019

24 Mar 2020

A lot can happen in a year. Browse some of the most important advances in bird conservation science that happened over 2019: part of the yearly update to our flagship publication, State of the World’s Birds.

By Jessica Law

Yearly updates can be infuriating. At the end of every December, social media is flooded with humblebrags about exotic holidays, job promotions or similar successes. But we promise that some yearly updates really are important.

Every four years, we release a full update of State of the World’s Birds: BirdLife’s landmark publication, which provides a global overview of the status of bird populations, the pressures they face and the actions underway to save them. Since birds are important indicators of the planet’s overall health, this report helps decision-makers to shape the global conservation agenda.

However, a lot can happen in four years. That’s why we also produce yearly updates on key scientific and conservation developments over the past 12 months. Here are some significant advances in knowledge we’ve gained since the last State of the World’s Birds publication was released in 2018.

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World’s oldest known wild bird is a mother again on Midway Atoll

By Nina Wu 

February 8, 2019

Updated February 8, 2019 2:58pm

Wisdom’s mate, Akeakamai, watches over the new albatross chick this week at Midway Atoll. Wisdom, estimated to be 68 years old, hatched this chick over the past week.

Wisdom, the world’s oldest-known wild bird, has hatched yet another chick at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge.

The Laysan albatross supermom is at least 68 years old, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials, and has given birth to and raised at least 31 chicks in her lifetime.

Wildlife officials first spotted Wisdom at her nest site at Midway on Nov. 29, where she soon laid an egg. The chick hatched this week, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service.

“She’s incredibly powerful as a symbol of why we do what we do and why people all over the world pay attention to her,” said Beth Flint, a Fish and Wildlife Service biologist, in a news release. “Wisdom is rewriting history about our understanding of survivorship, how long birds live, and how often they breed.”

Laysan albatrosses mate for life, and only one egg is laid per year, so they do not commonly return every year to do so. Since 2006, however, Wisdom and her mate, Akeakamai, have returned to Midway Atoll at Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument to lay and hatch an egg.

After the egg is laid, the albatross parents spend about seven months incubating it. They take turns, with one incubating the egg, while the other forages for food. After another five to six months, the chicks fledge, or fly out to sea, where they spend most of their lives soaring over the ocean and feeding on squid and fish eggs.

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