World’s Oldest Known Wild Bird Lays Egg at 74
Wisdom, a Laysan albatross, returns to Hawaii’s Midway Atoll with a new mate and lays her first egg in four years.
Overview
- Wisdom, a 74-year-old Laysan albatross, is the oldest known wild bird in the world, first tagged in 1956 as an adult.
- She returned to her nesting site at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, where she was observed with a new mate after her previous partner, Akeakamai, was not seen for years.
- Wildlife officials estimate this may be her 60th egg, though her last successful chick hatched in 2021, and she has raised as many as 30 chicks in her lifetime.
- Laysan albatrosses typically live up to 68 years and mate for life, making Wisdom’s longevity and continued reproduction remarkable.
- Biologists are optimistic that the egg will hatch in about two months, with Wisdom and her new mate taking turns incubating it.