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5mo ago

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.

Wisdom the albatross and her mate examine their egg.
Wisdom, the legendary Laysan albatross, or mōlī, stands at center over her recently laid egg with other seabirds around the ground nest on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, November 27, 2024 in Honolulu. She is around 74 years old.
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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.