Oldest Known Wild Bird Hatches Chick at Age 70

[catbyte]

Wisdom, a Laysan albatross, was first banded by scientists on a remote North Pacific atoll in 1956



By Alex Fox
SMITHSONIANMAG.COM
FEBRUARY 26, 2021

On February 1, the world’s oldest known wild bird became a mother once again when her chick hatched on the Midway Atoll in the middle of the North Pacific Ocean.

Scientists first attached a red identifying ankle band to Wisdom, a Laysan albatross, in 1956. She’s now at least 70 years old and has outlived the researcher who first banded her, reports Nina Wu of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

Just shy of 20 years ago, scientists thought the maximum age of the Laysan albatross was around 40 years, reports Kim Steutermann Rogers for National Geographic. But when Chandler Robbins, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist who first banded her, recaptured the bird to replace the tattered ankle band in 2002, Wisdom was 51 and instantly vaulted into position as the oldest wild bird ever recorded.

In fact, Wisdom may be even older than 70. She was conservatively estimated to be five-years-old when scientists first recorded her vitals, but it hasn’t stopped her from laying eggs in eight out of the last 11 years, per National Geographic. The septuagenarian albatross has been raising chicks with her mate Akeakamai since at least 2010, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Laysan albatross typically partner up for life, but Wisdom has had to find several new mates after she outlived her former beaus.

“We don’t know exactly how many chicks she’s raised, but certainly at least 35 based on what we know about her recent years performance,” Beth Flint, a biologist with the Marine National Monuments of the Pacific, tells Hawaii News Now.

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https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/oldest-known-wild-bird-hatches-chick-age-70-180977114/

[Bayard]

1. That is one tough old bird!

Good for her.

[jpak]

2. What tales she could tell....

Last edited Mon Mar 1, 2021, 01:41 PM - Edit history (1)

I picked up a banded dead skua near Palmer Station Antarctica in January 2000.

It was banded in 1962.

Seabirds can live for a long time



Edit - fixed autocorrect

[Backseat Driver]

3. Live long and prosper, Mama and baby(ies)!

History of Vulcan salute: