Wisdom, the world’s oldest known wild bird, made headlines recently for laying an egg with a new partner, her first egg in four years.
The egg has now hatched, and Wisdom, a Laysan albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis), or mōlī in Hawaiian, was spotted caring for her chick, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Pacific region said in a statement on X.
Researchers first attached an identifying band numbered Z333 on Wisdom’s leg in 1956. At the time, she had already laid an egg, indicating she was at least 5 years old then. She’s now estimated to be about 74 years old.
Mōlīs are known to spend half the year at sea while foraging, returning to land only to breed. On land, they meet up with their mates, with whom they generally partner for life. If the mating is successful, the female lays an egg.
Each year, Wisdom and hundreds of thousands of other mōlīs nest at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge located within Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in the North Pacific. Researchers estimate Wisdom has laid 50-60 eggs there, successfully fledging at least 30 chicks.
For a long time, researchers saw Wisdom with her partner they named Akeakamai. But the male albatross hasn’t been spotted at Midway Atoll since 2021.
In early 2024, biologists at USFWS Pacific saw Wisdom actively courting new partners, then finally laying an egg in November, after a gap of four years. The researchers banded her new mate to identify him in the future, but since he wasn’t banded earlier, they don’t know his age. However, Jon Plissner, USFWS supervisory wildlife biologist at Midway, told NPR in December that the second-oldest banded mōlī they know is 52.
After a female mōlī lays an egg, both parents take turns incubating it and raising the chick over several months. USFWS Pacific said Wisdom returned to her nest to care for her week-old chick in early February. “[W]hen Wisdom returned it was her partner’s turn to go hunt for squid, fish and crustaceans,” the agency said.
Historically, mōlī populations were decimated by hunting, which is illegal today. Now, these large seabirds are threatened by fishing nets, in which they get accidentally caught as bycatch.
On land, introduced predators like pigs, rats, dogs and cats prey on mōlī and their nests, while nonnative plants like the golden crownbeard (Verbesina encelioides) have reduced and degraded nesting habitats. Mōlīs also die from collisions with buildings and communication antennae, and adults are known to ingest pieces of plastic at sea and feed them to their chicks.
Wisdom has steered through these threats and even survived a tsunami in 2011.
A recent study found that older animals contribute valuable “wisdom” accumulated over their lifetime to their societies, providing greater stability to their populations.
Banner image of Wisdom standing over her recently hatched chick. Image by USFWS–Pacific Region volunteer Dan Rapp via Flickr (Public domain).
Credits
