The world’s oldest bird named Wisdom has become a parent at the age of 70. Wisdom, a Laysan albatross reared what is known to be her 40th chick recently. The good news has stirred up questions in the minds of researchers about how birds live.
Wisdom was first found by scientists in the year 1956. She was then five. Although her official age is 70, she might be older than that. Five also happens to be the earliest age an albatross reaches sexual maturity. Wisdom has so far given birth to her 40th baby. The baby hatched on a tiny scrap of land about 1,300 miles north of Hawaii in February.
According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the sea-bird has been raising chicks with her current mate since at least 2010. “Each year that Wisdom returns, we learn more about how long seabirds can live and raise chicks,” Beth Flint, US Fish, and Wildlife Service biologist, told Hawaii’s Star Advertiser.
Since the time Wisdom was found, she has registered about 3 million flying miles (a number which is equivalent to six round trips of the moon). “It’s really exciting to see that these birds are long-living and still raising chicks at 60 years old or older,” said John Klavitter, USFWS biologist.
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