Wisdom the Laysan albatross has laid another egg at Midway
COURTESY DAN RAPP/USFWS
Wisdom, the approximately 74-year-old Laysan albatross, stands at the center over her recently laid egg with other seabirds around the ground nest at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge.
COURTESY DAN RAPP/USFWS
Wisdom, the legendary Laysan albatross, stands at right with a red leg tag next to her new partner as they admire their recently laid egg at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in November.
Wisdom the Laysan albatross, known as the oldest known banded bird in the wild, has defied the odds again.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials said Wisdom, approximately 74 years old, returned to Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in late November.
She has a new mate, and has laid another egg.
USFWS shared a photo of the pair fussing over the egg in its nest at the wildlife refuge. Volunteers have observed the male albatross taking the first incubation shift.
Like other Laysan albatross, officials said, Wisdom returns to the same nesting site at Midway each year to reunite with her mate and potentially lay an egg. Wisdom is identified by her leg band, Z333.
Laysan albatross, or moli in Hawaiian, do not typically lay eggs every year, and when they do, they lay only one.
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Wildlife biologists say Wisdom has outweighed their expectations.
“Wisdom’s journey over more than seven decades continues to inspire thousands of people around the world with hope for the thriving success of not just her species,” said USFWS in a Facebook post, “but countless other species thanks to the driven workers, volunteers, and agencies devoted to bringing balance to natural places around our planet.”
Wisdom was first banded in December 1956 by biologist Chandler Robbins after she laid an egg, which is how her age has been estimated. Large seabirds are not known to breed before the age of 5.
Since at least 2012, she reunited with her male partner Akeakamai at Midway, but officials said he has not been seen for several years. The pair was last seen in 2021, when they hatched another chick.
Biologists believe Wisdom has produced 50 to 60 eggs, and hatched at least 30 chicks that fledged over her lifetime.
She was spotted earlier this year at Midway, participating in courtship dances with other males.
Jonathan Plissner, Midway’s supervisory wildlife biologist, called Wisdom’s first egg in four years “a special joy,” and said she still appears to have the energy and instincts to raise another chick. Her new mate has been banded so he can be identified in the future.
“We are optimistic that the egg will hatch,” wrote Plissner from the refuge.
Millions of seabirds return to Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, known as Kuaihelani in Hawaiian, every fall to nest and raise their young. The atoll at Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument is a sanctuary for millions of seabirds and shorebirds.
