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Wisdom Does it Again: World's Oldest Bird Hatches Another Chick

Wisdom's mate tends to his newly hatched chick just hours after it hatches on Sunday morning, February 3, 2013 on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. While this photo was taken, Wisdom was currently at sea feeding and will return when it is time for her shift to keep her youngest safe and warm. Credit: Pete Leary/USFWS.

A Laysan albatross known as "Wisdom" – believed to be at least 62 years old – has hatched a chick on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) for the sixth consecutive year. Early morning on February 3, 2013, the still-wet chick was observed by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Pete Leary, who said the chick appears healthy.

Wisdom was first banded in 1956, when she was incubating an egg in the same area of the refuge. She was at least five years old at the time. Wisdom has likely raised at least 30 to 35 chicks during her breeding life, though the number may well be higher. Wisdom is known to have nested in 2006 and then every year since 2008.

Wisdom has worn out five bird bands since she was first banded by U.S. Geological Survey scientist Chandler Robbins in 1956. Robbins estimated Wisdom to be at least five years old at the time, since that is the earliest age at which these birds breed. Typically, they breed at eight or nine years of age after a very involved courtship lasting over several years, so Wisdom could be even older than 62.

Wisdom returns to Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge to resume her chick rearing duties on February 8, 2013. Credit: John Klavitter/USFWS.

Almost as amazing as being a parent at 62 is the number of miles Wisdom has likely logged – about 50,000 miles a year as an adult – which means that Wisdom has flown at least two million to three million miles since she was first banded. Or, to put it another way, that's four to six trips from the Earth to the Moon and back again, with plenty of miles to spare.

Nineteen of 21 species of albatross are threatened with extinction, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Threats include longline fishing, in which birds are inadvertently hooked and drowned (though conservation groups have banded with fishermen and dramatically lowered the number of deaths from this cause); marine debris, which is ingested by adults and fed to chicks, often leading to starvation; invasive species such as rats and wild cats, which prey on eggs, chicks, and nesting adults; and on Midway, lead poisoning of chicks from lead-based paint used in previous decades.

Midway Atoll NWR hosts the world's largest albatross colony, which is monitored by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff and volunteers. Elsewhere, Ka'ena Point Natural Area Reserve, managed by the State of Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources, hosts the only nesting Laysan albatross colony on O'ahu and offers hikers the opportunity to observe these amazing seabirds from a distance as they tend to this season's newly hatched chicks.

To see the press release, click here.

For photo updates and more information on Wisdom visit: http://www.fws.gov/midway/whatsnew.html.

Wisdom (left) attempts to nudge her mate off the nest for her turn at incubating the couple's egg.

After returning from foraging at sea on November 29, 2012, Wisdom (left) attempts to nudge her mate off the nest for her turn at incubating the couple's egg. Credit: Pete Leary/USFWS.

Wisdom with chick on February 16, 2013. Credit: John Klavitter/USFWS.

Wisdom's chick is growing nicely and no longer needs to be brooded continuously by its parents. This photo of Wisdom's chick was taken by Deputy Refuge Manager, John Klavitter on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. Biologists applied two temporary bands (pink band with the number 149 and pink 150) to the chick on Feb. 24 for monitoring purposes. Credit: John Klavitter/USFWS.