MIDWAY ATOLL NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE – Wisdom, the oldest known wild bird on Earth, has returned to Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. The Laysan albatross is estimated to be an incredible 75 years old!
She returns to Midway Atoll every year for nesting season, along with millions of other birds.
“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,” said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “It is estimated that Wisdom has produced 50-60 eggs and as many as 30 chicks that fledged in her lifetime.”
Last year, Wisdom successfully laid an egg for the first time in four years. She has been nesting at Midway since the Eisenhower administration.
NATIONAL PARK NEWS
