See the Adorable Video of Wisdom, the World’s Oldest Wild Bird, Tending to Her New Chick at Age 74
First banded in 1956, the Laysan albatross has become a mother once again at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge
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Once a mother, always a mother: Wisdom, the oldest known wild bird, is settling into parenthood again at age 74.
The world-famous Laysan albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) was spotted caring for her newest chick at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in the North Pacific Ocean this month. Dan Rapp, a volunteer with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, captured video footage of the sweet interaction, in which Wisdom gently preened her chick’s downy feathers.
Just like she has done for at least seven decades, Wisdom returned to Midway Atoll in hopes of breeding. Though she hadn’t nested in a couple of years, this season, she was successful: She laid an egg on November 26, 2024.
But Laysan albatross eggs don’t always hatch. Sometimes, they get snatched up by opportunistic predators. Other times, eggs contain non-viable embryos, which can result from imperfect environmental conditions or infertility in one of the parent birds.
So, wildlife biologists waited to see if Wisdom’s latest egg would produce a chick. And—much to their delight—it did. The hatchling emerged on January 30, according to a Facebook post from the nonprofit Friends of Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge.
When the egg hatched, Wisdom’s mate was caring for it. She, meanwhile, was at sea restoring her energy. On February 6, the experienced mother returned to take over parenting duties from her mate—and meet the chick for the first time.
The late American biologist Chandler Robbins first banded Wisdom in 1956, while Dwight D. Eisenhower was president. At that time, Wisdom had already laid an egg—and Laysan albatrosses typically do not reach sexual maturity until they are at least five years old. That means Wisdom is at least 74 years old, but she could be even older.
“Of the more than 250,000 birds banded since … 1956, the next oldest bird we know about currently is just 52 years old,” Jon Plissner, a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, told NPR’s Bill Chappell in December.
Biologists estimate Wisdom has laid between 50 and 60 eggs throughout her lifetime. And at least 30 of those produced hatchlings that made it to the fledgling stage, when they have left the nest and are starting to learn to fly. Most recently, she hatched a chick in 2021.
“It’s impossible for us to look at that bird and not be stunned that she is still breeding and has laid an egg,” Carl Safina, a marine ecologist at Stony Brook University, told the New York Times’ Sara Ruberg in December.
Wisdom has likely outlived at least three mates, including her long-time partner Akeakamai. Albatrosses typically mate for life, but when Akeakamai stopped returning to Midway Atoll in recent years, Wisdom had to find a new suitor.
“It was exciting to see her return last year and start courting and dancing with the other birds,” Plissner told the Washington Post’s Cathy Free and Kyle Melnick in December. “We didn’t know how she would respond to losing a mate at her age, so to see her kicking it up with the other birds gave us all hope.”
Biologists don’t know much about Wisdom’s new beau, as he was only banded in late November 2024. But the paired birds have been taking turns tending to their chick, since Laysan albatrosses share the responsibility of parenting.
When she’s not breeding and raising chicks, Wisdom spends her time soaring over the open ocean in search of squid, crustaceans and fish. Biologists estimate Wisdom has flown roughly 3.7 million miles in her lifetime—which is a greater distance than flying to the moon and back seven times.
More than 660,000 breeding pairs of Laysan albatrosses (known as mōlī in Hawaiian) live on Midway Atoll, which is home to the world’s largest nesting colony of the birds. They face numerous threats, including predation from invasive rodents, entanglement in commercial fishing gear and more extreme weather conditions brought on by human-caused climate change.
They are also highly vulnerable to pollution: Laysan albatrosses often mistake bits of floating trash and plastic for food. They sometimes eat these unnatural items or bring them back to feed their chicks. Scientists have found dead chicks with stomachs full of plastic.
“Wisdom has somehow managed to avoid all of the hazards for more than 70 years,” Plissner said to NPR.
