Wisdom, a Laysan albatross and the world’s oldest known banded wild bird, has marked another milestone.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials confirmed that Wisdom returned to her nest site at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge and Battle of Midway National Memorial shortly before Thanksgiving, possibly in preparation to hatch another round of chicks. Wisdom and her longtime albatross mate, Akeakamai, were recently spotted together.

Officials said Wisdom is at least 69 years old and has hatched more than 35 chicks in her lifetime. She was first spotted at her nest site Nov. 22, but it remains unknown whether she will lay an egg this year.

Midway Atoll at Papaha­naumokuakea Marine National Monument is home to 73% of all Laysan albatrosses in the world. It is also home to black-footed albatrosses, endangered short-tailed albatrosses and 20 other bird species.

Every year in late October, more than a million albatrosses return to Midway from sea, and over the next two months, breeding pairs claim nearly every available patch of land. The pairs mate for life and lay only one egg per year.

Since 2006 Wisdom and her mate have returned nearly every year to the same site in a behavior known as “nest site fidelity.” Last year Wisdom successfully hatched a chick. Given her longevity, biologists say she is likely surrounded by several generations of her brethren when she returns every year to Midway.

Albatross parents typically spend seven months on the atoll, taking turns incubating the egg or caring for the chick. One will assume parental duties while the other flies across the ocean in search of food. As adults, Laysan albatrosses fly up to 50,000 miles a year.

That means Wisdom has flown approximately 3.5 million miles in her life, equivalent to seven round trips to the moon, according to USFWS. For many seabird and nature lovers, Wisdom’s longevity has become an inspiration and beacon of hope.

Since 1936 over 250,000 albatrosses have been banded at Midway Atoll. Wisdom was first banded as an adult in 1956 by biologist Chandler Robbins, who was studying the colony at Midway.

“Wisdom is important not only because she is a part of a long-term study of albatross population, but also because she is an individual that we can actually know and follow her personal history,” said supervisory wildlife biologist Beth Flint. “She has seen so much, and yet she is still doing what she evolved to do: surviving and raising young every year. That makes her incredibly powerful as a symbol of why we do what we do.”

Recognizing its critical role, wildlife biologists are working to restore the habitat seabirds need at Midway by removing threats like invasive mice.

“For millions of years, the Northwest Hawaiian Islands have been a safe refuge for albatross like Wisdom, as well as countless other migratory birds, endangered monk seals and green sea turtles,” said acting refuge manager Stephen Barclay. “Our job is to ensure that this refuge out here in the middle of the ocean remains a safe place for the wildlife that call it home.”