A 74-year-old wild bird just laid an egg, astonishing researchers – National | Globalnews.ca
How eggs-traordinary!
The world’s oldest known wild bird, a Laysan albatross by the name of Wisdom, has laid an egg on a remote island in the central Pacific, exciting researchers.
She was caught on camera by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) taking care of the egg with her latest partner at the Midway Atoll national wildlife refuge in the Pacific Ocean.
Wisdom, who is believed to be about 74 years old, hadn’t laid an egg in four years and Jonathan Plissner, a wildlife biologist at the refuge, called the new egg a “special joy.”
While this particular type of albatross is known to have a long lifespan, researchers are still unclear on how long they can live and consider Wisdom’s longevity quite remarkable. She was tagged by the service in 1956 when she was about five.
Her last offspring hatched in 2021, but she’s believed to have mothered more than 30 chicks in her lifetime.
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While albatrosses typically mate for life, Wisdom’s long life means she’s outlived at least three former partners. Her last partner, Akeakamai, has not been seen for several years, the USFWS said.
Plissner told the BBC that biologists are unaware of any birds close to her age — the next closest is around 45.
“It’s really been remarkable,” he said. “Wisdom seems to pique the interest of people across the world. We wait each year with bated breath for her return.”
Plissner said despite her advanced age, Wisdom is full of energy and seems up to the task of mothering again, should her egg hatch. There is about a 70- to 80-per cent chance a chick will emerge from the egg.
Wisdom, along with millions of other seabirds, returns to the wildlife refuge each year.
“Wisdom, specifically, has been doing this since the Eisenhower administration,” the USFWS notes.
Carl Safina, a marine ecologist at Stony Brook University who studies seabirds, told the New York Times that Wisdom is impressive not only for her age and continued ability to lay eggs, but also for avoiding threats that have increasingly endangered albatrosses, including climate change and pollution.
“The fact that she’s old is one thing,” Dr. Safina said. “The fact that she has survived this long is actually much more impressive.”
Wisdom and her new partner will share incubation duties for the next two months and, if the chick hatches, feeding duties until the baby bird leaves the nest.
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