Life in the old bird yet, albatross lays an egg aged 68
AN ANCIENT albatross has proved that there is life in the old bird yet.
This female Laysan albatross, the world’s oldest-known bird, has laid an egg at the grand old age of 68.
It is thought to be the 35th egg laid over the years by the bird, known as Wisdom. She was first ringed in 1956 on Midway Island in the middle of the North Pacific by American ornithologist Chandler Robbins. Wisdom’s age was then calculated to be at least five years old. Mr Robbins rediscovered her on a visit to Midway in 2002, leading her to being monitored ever since.
This year she was seen near one of her chicks which hatched in 2001 and is now fully grown.
Kelly Goodale, US Fish and Wildlife Service Refuge Biologist, told the publication BirdGuides: “Wisdom first appeared back at her traditional nest site on November 29 and biologists on Midway have confirmed that she laid an egg. If you can imagine when Wisdom returns home she is surrounded by what were once her chick and potentially their chicks. What a family reunion!”
In the breeding season Midway is home to three million birds including
1.2 million albatrosses.
Wisdom has outlived Mr Robbins who died last year aged 98 while she continued to fly round the Pacific.
In her lifetime Wisdom is thought to have flown three million miles – or more than 12 round trips to the moon.