Wisdom, a Laysan albatross, has outlived at least three mates and the researcher who outfitted her with a tracking band in 1956.
The world’s oldest known wild bird, a 74-year-old Laysan albatross named Wisdom, is expected to welcome another baby chick in the coming months, astonishing scientists who have been tracking her since the Eisenhower administration.
Wisdom laid an egg on Nov. 27 on Midway Atoll, a speck of land in the Pacific Ocean, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said. Researchers said they were optimistic that it will hatch in about two months, making her a mother for the 30th or so time. Her last chick hatched in 2021.
Scientists have long marveled over Wisdom’s longevity and her ability to breed as she gets older.
Jonathan Plissner, a supervisory wildlife biologist at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, told BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday that “it’s very rare” for a bird of Wisdom’s age to lay an egg, noting that “the average age that birds can survive is probably closer to 30 years.” The next oldest albatross that researchers are aware of at Midway Atoll is about 45 years old, he said.
“She is unique,” Dr. Plissner said. “We don’t know of any others that are even close to her age.”
Researchers at the wildlife refuge found that Wisdom had returned on Nov. 26 to Midway Atoll, about 1,200 miles northwest of Honolulu — and the site of one of the biggest battles of World War II, just a few years before she was born.
Wisdom immediately began interacting with a new mate upon her arrival, the scientists said.
While albatrosses usually mate for life, they will find new mates to breed with if their partner dies. Dr. Plissner believes Wisdom has outlived at least three mates.
She hatched and raised chicks with another albatross named Akeakamai for decades, most recently in 2021, but Akeakamai has not been seen in several years. Wisdom’s new mate was outfitted with a tracking band last Friday. He stayed back to incubate the egg while Wisdom headed back to sea for a time, researchers said.