The oldest known living world in the wild, Albatross ‘Wisdom’ is believed to be a mother of more than 30 chicks and has recently hatched a chick at the age of 70. According to biologists, Wisdom has had several mating partners, mostly due to the fact that she has outlived her partners.
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Identified as Z333 on her leg band, she is more affectionately known as ‘Wisdom’. In her extraordinary lifetime, wisdom has flown around 3 Million miles and successfully raised 37 chicks. Today, she is surrounded by three generations of her extended family. This exceptional grandmother has no time to rest, only staying for ten minutes to stay with her chicks before leaving to search for more food. As her chicks anxiously wait for their mother to return, other chicks are surrounded by their parents who bring them food. Little do they know that their mother is the oldest bird in the wild and has so many others to feed?
Oldest Albatross Had Multiple Mating Partners; ‘Akeakamai’ Longest Partner
The ‘Layson Albatross’, hatched the chick in February at Midway Atoll in the Hawaiian archipelago. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s office in the pacific Islands reported the latest development about the Albatross’s astonishing lifespan. The Wildlife Agency also informed that the oldest bird laid her egg last time in November 2020.
Her mating partner, ‘Akeakamai’, took over the incubation duties for the newly hatched chick as Wisdom went for forage to the sea. ‘Wisdom’ and ‘Akeakamai’ have been together since at least 2012, according to the wildlife agencies, and they have both hatched and raised chicks together since then. Experts and researchers have been astonished by the lifespan and devotion of Wisdom, the mother of 37 chicks. Although she travels long distances but returns to her same nest every year on Midway Atoll, i.e. the world’s largest colony of Albatrosses. He and her partner take turns to forage and while one is out on duty, the other one takes charge of the hatching.
Albatross Wisdom’s Long Life Span Astonishing to Researchers
Researchers await Wisdom’s return regularly as they study the longevity of seabirds, and till what age they can lay eggs and raise their little ones. Beth Flint, the supervisory wildlife biologist at ‘Pacific Remote Islands National Wildlife Refuge Complex, said that Wisdom’s return serves as an inspiration for other birds, and helps the agencies better understand the habitat these birds require for striving.
Generally, Albatrosses, have a single mate in their life, and the parents come home to Midway in the month of October. It’s like a reunion of the birds, where they incubate a single egg and feed the new chicks. Wisdom has not only outlived her mates, but also the first biologist who banded the bird. Chandler Robbins found the Albatross’s nest near a U.S. Navy barracks in the year 1956. Robbins died in 2017.
