After finding a new mate, the female Laysan Wisdom Albatross continued to lay new eggs at Midway Atoll, increasing the number of her young.
Wisdom and her partner next to the new egg. Image: USFWS
At 74 years old, the Laysan albatross named Wisdom is the oldest known wild bird in the world. However, it is still busy reproducing, laying a new egg this year at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in Hawaii, Forbes reported. The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced Wisdom’s new egg on social networks on December 3.
The Laysan albatross only lays one egg per breeding season. This is a migratory seabird. Wisdom and her kin arrive at Midway Atoll in the fall to breed, usually around Thanksgiving. Biologists collared Wisdom in 1956, so the forestry service could monitor it over a long period of time. Its age is approximate, but it was collared after laying an egg and Laysan albatross do not breed until at least 5 years old. It has the bracelet number “Z333” on its leg. USFWS experts estimated that the female albatross laid about 60 eggs and had 30 chicks with full wing feathers.
The new egg is Wisdom’s first in four years. Wisdom’s long-term partner Akeakamai disappeared a few years ago. Wisdom finds a new mate, marking a major change in its decades-long relationship with Akeakamai. Its new mate also wears the bracelet. Paired birds usually reunite each year and share parenting duties. Midway Atoll biologist Jon Plissner and his colleagues are confident the egg will hatch.
More than a million albatross use Midway Atoll as a place to incubate eggs and raise their young. They typically eat squid, fish and crustaceans, according to the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources.
Laysan albatrosses have faced many challenges over the years, including pollution, threats from invasive species, collisions with structures and aircraft, and human disturbance in their breeding grounds. Climate change is also a risk. Nesting populations in low-lying atolls are vulnerable to rising sea levels, storm events and ocean waves associated with climate change. The Laysan albatross is listed as near-threatened in the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The IUCN estimates their population at around 1.6 million mature individuals, of which Wisdom is the most famous.
Wisdom and her mate will spend months nursing their young if the eggs hatch. This animal usually incubates eggs for two months. If the eggs hatch in early 2025, the babies will be grown and ready to be independent by July of the same year.
They’re Khang (Theo Forbes)