World's Oldest Known Wild Bird Lays Egg at 67

Wisdom is a "beacon of hope" for the Laysan albatross, which faces threats such as ingesting ocean plastic.

  

By Christine Dell'Amore

PUBLISHED JANUARY 2, 2018

Wisdom, the albatross supermom, has done it again. At 67, the world's oldest known wild bird has laid an egg at her home on the Midway Atoll.

Wisdom and her mate, Akeakamai, return each year to the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument to nest and raise a single chick. On December 13, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) confirmed the pair were incubating a new egg.

In her long life, Wisdom has outlived several mates and raised anywhere from 30 to 35 chicks. (See National Geographic's pictures of animal mothers and babies.)

  

She's also remarkable for having logged an estimated two to three million miles since 1956—or four to six round trips to the moon, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. (Related: "Albatross's Effortless Flight Decoded—May Influence Future Planes.")

"It's just unprecedented that we have a bird that we know of that's 67 years old and still reproducing," says Kate Toniolo, deputy superintendent for the marine national monument.

"It makes you wonder—could there be a bird two nests away from Wisdom that's even older?"

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World’s oldest wild bird just hatched another egg at 66

February 22, 2017

by Chuck Bednar

The Laysan albatross believed to own the title of the world’s oldest known avian has hatched a new chick for the second straight year – no small feat for the approximately 66-year-old bird, as it takes approximately seven months to incubate an egg and raise a chick.

In a statement released late last week, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) revealed that the albatross named Wisdom, who has been living at Hawaii’s Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge and Battle of Midway National Memorial for more than six decades, had finally hatched an egg she that was first spotted incubating back in early December.

Wisdom, who according to NPR was first banded by biologist Chandler Robbins in 1956, has given birth to at least 30 to 35 chicks, said Bob Peyton, USFWS Service Project Leader for the Refuge and Memorial. When not incubating eggs, the agency said that she is typically extremely active, having flown an estimated three million miles over the course of her life.

“Wisdom continues to inspire people around the world,” Peyton explained. “Because Laysan albatross don’t lay eggs every year and when they do, they raise only one chick at a time, the contribution of even one bird to the population makes a difference.”

“Laysan albatross and other seabirds depend on the habitat protected by Midway Atoll and other Pacific remote wildlife refuges to raise their young. Thanks to the hard work of our volunteers, we have been able to restore the native habitat that the birds need for nesting sites, ensuring a future for these seabirds,” he added.


Read more at

World's Oldest Wild Bird Just Became a Mom for the 40th Time

by Laura Geggel, Staff Writer   |   February 12, 2016 11:57am ET

The world's oldest known wild bird just added a new chick to the family — her 40th one, experts say.

The Laysan albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis), named Wisdom, is at least 65 years old but shows no signs of slowing down. Wildlife officials at the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in Hawaii saw her lay an egg on Nov. 28, 2015, and incubate it for several weeks. 

A fuzzy, gray chick cracked out of its shell on Feb. 1. But Wisdom wasn't there when the baby chick hatched: She had headed out to sea on Jan. 20, leaving her mate on nest duty. She returned just after Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 7) with a full belly and settled down on the nest, allowing her mate to fly off to sea in search of food, officials said. 

http://www.livescience.com/53621-oldest-living-wild-bird-mother-albatross.html

Oldest furious bird in the world has given birth!

Things you may not have known, but probably should know because they are fantastic, especially not by the great-ness: 1) oldest known wild bird in the world is a female albatross 63 years of age. 2) It's called "Wisdom." 3) Wisdom has just given birth.

"As the world's oldest known bird in the wild, Wisdom is an iconic symbol of inspiration and hope for all seabird species" said Dan Clark, refuge manager for Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, in a news release. He continues:

She provides to the world valuable information about the longevity of these beautiful creatures. In the case of Wisdom, she has logged literally millions of miles over the Pacific Ocean in her lifetime to find enough fish eggs and squid to feed herself and multiple chicks, allowing us the opportunity to measure the health of our oceans which sustain albatross as well as ourselves.

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