WORLD’S OLDEST BIRD, WISDOM, LAYS ANOTHER EGG AT 68
Did you know that some birds live a long damn time? Ok, I remember something about parrots. But I’ve never had one. So I assumed they lived a long time because they were safe out of the wild. But no, some of these birds don’t just live a long time. They live a long time like they’re in their prime! We know this because of the bird, Wisdom. She’s a Laysan albatross and she’s over 68 years old. But this crazy old bird just went back to her breeding grounds and laid another egg! She’s the oldest bird in the world and she’s a momma, again!
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SCIENTISTS FIRST TAGGED GRAND OLD ALBATROSS IN 1956
But it’s for real. She’s 68 years old. But she looks like she’s about 6 years old! I want to know what she eats on her Wheaties. Cause whatever it is, it works! Just last year Wisdom raised a new chick. She was 67 then. And here she is again looking to do it again just a year later! So how do we know how old she is (mostly)? It was in 1956 that a scientist first put a band on Wisdom. She was already an adult then! That’s just crazy. The scientist was Chandler Robbins and she banded Wisdom near a US Navy barracks. That year Wisdom was among 8,400 other albatross scientists banded.
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MOTHER GOOSE SUCKS, WISDOM HAS LAID AN EGG A YEAR SINCE 1956
But Robbins spotted Wisdom again, 46 years later at the same nesting site. That’s when they saw the original number from her first band. These albatross meet and breed in large colonies. They go back to the place where they were born, every single year. This location is on Midway. Midway is two islands where 3 million seabirds nest. 1.2 million of those are albatross. They first look for a mate when they’re 5 years old, right before full adulthood. They come back every year to lay one egg and raise the chick. That makes Wisdom a serious Rockstar.