Egg-straordinary: 74-year-old bird becomes a mum yet again
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Filmed at the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in the Pacific Ocean, Wisdom (right) was seen with her latest partner carefully tending to the egg.
PHOTO: US FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICES/X
In a feat that challenges the limits of what is known about avian biology, Wisdom, a 74-year-old Laysan albatross and the world’s oldest known wild bird, has laid an egg, US biologists have revealed.
Filmed at the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in the Pacific Ocean, Wisdom was seen with her latest partner carefully tending to the egg.
Midway Atoll, located within the Hawaiian archipelago, is classified as an unincorporated territory of the United States rather than part of the state of Hawaii. The wildlife refuge hosts the world’s largest albatross colony.
Typically, Laysan albatrosses have a lifespan of 12 to 40 years, making Wisdom’s age – and her continued ability to reproduce – an extraordinary exception.
Wisdom’s story first began in 1956, when she was first identified and tagged after laying an egg, at around age five. She has since defied all odds and is thought to have raised more than 30 chicks in her lifetime. Her most recent offspring hatched in 2021.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) noted on X on Dec 4 that Wisdom had laid another egg and appeared to have found a new mate the week before.
Though albatrosses are known to form lifelong bonds with their mates, Wisdom is believed to have outlived at least three partners – a testament to her remarkable longevity.
USFWS supervisory wildlife biologist Jon Plissner told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that Wisdom is one of approximately two to three million Laysan albatrosses who return to the atoll each year to breed.
“We don’t know of any other bird even close to her age,” he said, adding, “It’s truly astonishing. Wisdom fascinates people around the world, and we eagerly await her arrival every year.”
Though her age is unprecedented, Wisdom still shows the energy and instincts needed to raise another chick, with scientists estimating about 70 to 80 per cent chance that her latest egg will hatch. Albatross parents typically share duties of incubation and feeding once the chick is born.
