World’s Oldest Wild Bird Hatches New Chick At Age 70

The world’s oldest known wild bird, Wisdom the albatross has hatched a chick at the age of 70, according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).

The USFWS announced that the Laysan albatross hatched the chick on 1 February in a wildlife refuge in the North Pacific Ocean.

Laysan albatrosses usually only live for 12-40 years. But Wisdom was first identified by researchers in 1956.

Although Wisdom hatched her chick in February, the birth – which took place in the Midway Atoll national wildlife refuge, in a US minor outlying island in the North Pacific – has only been reported this week.

“Wisdom laid her egg sometime during the last few days of November,” the USFWS wrote in its statement announcing the new arrival.

World's Oldest Wild Bird Hatches New Chick At Age 70

“Soon after, Wisdom returned to sea to forage and her mate Akeakamai took over incubation duties. Albatross parents share incubation duties and once the chick hatches, share feeding duties.”

The father of the chick is Wisdom’s partner, Akeakamai, who she has been with since 2012, US wildlife officials said.

Albatrosses usually mate for life, but it wildlife officials believe Wisdom had other partners in the past that are now dead.

The USFWS believes she has had at least 30 to 36 chicks in her lifetime which is remarkable because Albatrosses only hatch one egg every few years.