World’s oldest known wild bird, Wisdom the albatross, has hatched a chick on February 1st. The Laysan albatross is at least 70 years of age. The North Pacific Ocean, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has said that the father is Wisdom’s partner, Akeakamai, who she has been with since 2012 in the Midway Atoll wildlife refuge.
The wildlife refuge is home to the largest colony of albatross in the world. Usually the Laysan albatrosses live for 12-40 years. But Wisdom has lived beyond the usual years and have had other partners in the past. She outlived them.
The albatrosses can mate for life. In the statement, the USFWS wrote that the oldest wild bird laid her egg in the end of November, 2020 and it hatched in February but it was reported only this week.
As soon as she laid the egg, Wisdom returned to sea to forage and her mate Akeakamai took over incubation duties. The incubation duties are shared by the Albatross parents.
After the egg hatches the birds also share feeding duties. Albatrosses only hatch one egg every few years and Wisdom is believed to have had at least 30 to 36 chicks in her lifetime.