The oldest known wild bird in the world has laid an egg at the ripe age of about 74, her first in four years, U.S. wildlife officials said.
The long-winged seabird named Wisdom, a Laysan albatross, returned to Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge at the northwestern edge of the Hawaiian Archipelago and laid what experts estimate may be her 60th egg, the Pacific Region of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service said in a Facebook post this week.
Wisdom and her mate, Akeakamai, had returned to the atoll in the Pacific Ocean to lay and hatch eggs since 2006. Laysan albatrosses mate for life and lay one egg per year, but according to the USFWS, Akeakamai hadn’t been seen for several years, prompting “Wisdom to begin courtship dances with other males” as soon as she returned to the island last week.
“We are optimistic that the egg will hatch,” Jonathan Plissner, supervisory wildlife biologist at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge said in a statement. Every year, millions of seabirds return to the refuge to nest and raise their young.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/Facebook
Albatross parents take turns incubating an egg for about seven months. Chicks fly out to sea about five to six months after hatching. They spend most of their lives flying over the ocean and feeding on squid and fish eggs.
Wisdom was first banded as an adult in 1956 and has raised as many as 30 chicks, Plissner said.
The typical lifespan of a Laysan albatross is 68 years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
As 60 Minutes reported in 2018, Wisdom’s advanced years have seen her defy not only the general longevity odds for her species, but also the odds crated by the grim condition of her natural habitat. The islands of the Midway Atoll were she nests are awash with plastic pollution. The 60 Minutes team found that many of Wisdom’s fellow albatrosses have died around her with bellies full of plastic, making her a source of some optimism for researchers.
The USFWS called Wisdom “a world-renowned symbol of hope for all species that depend upon the health of the ocean to survive.”