The oldest known wild bird in the world has broken more records and again astounded researchers by laying another egg at the ripe old age of 68.
Wisdom is a Laysan albatross who is believed to have hatched in 1951. She was first tagged by scientists at around five years of age at the Midway Atoll national wildlife refuge, and has been observed ever since.
Although albatrosses do have an impressively long life, Wisdom is the only one confirmed to have lived this long. Before her, the oldest recorded individual was a 53-year-old male.
Albatrosses mate for life, and Wisdom has been known to be paired with her partner Akeakamai since 2006. Every year, this species returns to the location where they were hatched and fledged. In Wisdom’s case, home is Midway Atoll, a small collection of islands in the Pacific Ocean. During winter, around one million Laysan albatrosses return here to reunite with their mates and breed.
Because the process of hatching and rearing a chick is intensive and exhausting — taking around seven months — most birds only lay eggs every second year. But not Wisdom; she has stoically laid eggs and fledged chicks for nine out of the last ten years.
Akeakamai, as with all males, has played a large role in the process. Co-parenting is important for this species, and males and females share the responsibility of incubating and raising their single chick.
When they’re not parenting, albatrosses are out at sea; they spend an estimated 90% of their lives on the wing. Scientists studying Wisdom estimate she has flown more than six million miles in her lifetime.
This awe-inspiring bird is thought to have raised more than 36 chicks. She and her chick even survived a devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit the atoll in 2011, killing more than 110,000 albatrosses.
Scientists will continue to monitor Wisdom over the years, using the data collected from this more than great-grandmother — along with her offspring — to discover more about the lives of this amazing species.
“Midway Atoll’s habitat doesn’t just contain millions of birds, it contains countless generations and families of albatrosses,” said Kelly Goodale, a fish and wildlife service refuge biologist. “If you can imagine when Wisdom returns home, she is likely surrounded by what were once her chicks and potentially their chicks.”

Allen Tieren dieser Erde muss geholfen werden den sie sind Gottes Geschöpfe…..
One Very Lucky Bird.It’s wonderful to know that some animals can thrive against all odds. I hope that SHE will live many more years with happiness…
Bless her – hope she continues to raise lots more chicks in the years to come!
AWESOME!!!
This is a happy story for a change. So many abusers & animals killed all the time
.
Thanks for sharing about Wisdom!!
Great story. Thank you.
What a fun story! Wisdom is an amazing girl!
animal abuser need to have much ,much stronger sentence,,,,it is redicuous that they get away with that,,,it shows that nobody really cares,,,that includes the law and all involved,,it is digusting that our planet has become a killer mashine,,,a satanic place where Satan rules,,,
oops,,,my comment does not belong here,,,but was meant as comment to that Cat Murder
What an amazing story. This globe trotting, beautiful senior albatross has seen so much in her 68 years! It would be amazing to hear or see the things Wisdom has. It’s so promising too, that she survived a tsunami & hurricane! She must be very wise & resourceful. Thank you for sharing, I can’t wait to hear more about Wisdom in her years to come 🙂
What a wonderful bird, she sure could teach a lot of people about principle.
What an amazing Lady Wisdom Is! Certainly a hard life but beautifully death defying grace this senior bird has. The things she has seen make me wish she could talk or write a book lol:).
She is quite impressive and beautiful.
You Go Girl!
Wow ! Thank you for sharing this.
Such a cute and warming article. It is nice to hear stories like this.
Absolutely amazing!! Thank you for sharing this!! 🙂
My soul and every cell in my body vehemently objects to this disgusting, sadistic and cruel spectacle! Have the human participants nothing better to do with their time? A disgrace to Chilean culture. It must end now!
Don’t be too fascinated.
Joan Hiobbs, I rally think you need to be careful when you post comments and make sure you are posting them on the right story!
Fascinating. Thank you for posting this.