According to USFWS, Wisdom’s longtime mate named Akeakamai has not been seen at the wildlife refuge this year.
Wisdom, the world’s oldest known bird, has returned to the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced on Thursday. Taking to Twitter, the wildlife officials said that the Laysan albatross is at least 71 years old. The large seabird, who was spotted on Thanksgiving day, has reappeared at the same nest site in the North Pacific for decades.
“Wisdom, the world’s oldest known wild bird, recently returned to Midway Atoll! The beloved Laysan albatross, or moli, is at least 71 years old. Biologists first identified and banded Wisdom in 1956 after she laid an egg, and the large seabirds aren’t known to breed before age 5,” USFWS wrote on Twitter.
In the following tweet, the agency said biologists first identified and banded Wisdom in 1956 after she laid an egg. Over the course of her life, she has produced 50-60 eggs and raised around 30 chicks. As per Huffpost, last year scientists also learned that she had become a grandmother after one of her offspring was observed helping raise a chick of its own.
However, USFWS said that Wisdom’s longtime mate named Akeakamai has not been seen at the wildlife refuge this year. The pair’s most recent chick hatched in early 2021 when Wisdom was believed to be at least 70.
Meanwhile, on Twitter, the news of Wisdom’s return this year was met with celebration and appreciation for her resilience. “Wisdom may be the single most impressive organism on Earth,” wrote one user. “This specific individual bird is older than my parents, and approximately 4% of my happiness is tied up in whether or not this specific individual bird mates every year,” said another.
In 2002, biologist Chandler Robbins of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was working on the Midway Atoll. He recaptured a bird that needed a tattered ankle band to be replaced. He found the bird in question was 51 years old.
Wisdom was immediately secured into spot as the oldest bird ever recorded. To his disbelief, Robbins found that it was him who had banded Wisdom in 1956. He died in 2017 aged 98. Wisdom’s extraordinary longevity and remarkable late-life chick-rearing has won her internet fame.
Wisdom may be twice or thrice the expected lifespan of a Laysan albatross. For this reason, biologists are actively gathering data and learning about the species.
Beth Flint, a biologist with the Marine National Monuments of the Pacific, said, “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.”
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