THE world’s oldest breeding albatross has returned to a wildlife refuge in Hawaii and began incubating a newly laid egg.

    Wisdom, the female albatross believed to be at least 66 years old, surprised and delighted staff at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge and Battle of Midway National Memorial by laying a new egg despite her advanced age.

    She was incubating an egg at the same nest she uses each year with her mate.

    “I find it impressive that not only has Wisdom returned for over six decades as the oldest living, breeding bird in the wild, but also that biologists here on Midway have been keeping records that have allowed us to keep track of her over the years,” said Charlie Pelizza, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service acting project leader for Midway Atoll Refuge and Memorial.

    Staff kept track of Wisdom throughout her six decades of fertility using a red auxiliary band attached to her right leg.

    She was first banded in 1956 by biologist Chandler Robbins when she had already begun breeding. Biologists estimate Wisdom is older than 66.

    Wisdom has raised at least nine chicks to maturity since 2006 and remains at the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge incubating her newest egg and awaiting the return of her mate Akeakamai.

    “When I made it to lunch, I knew something was up,” Pelizza said of the excitement surrounding Wisdom and her egg. “The staff was abuzz with the news that Wisdom was back and incubating. It’s amazing what a bit of good news can do to brighten the day.”

    The oldest albatross other than Wisdom to lay an egg was Grandma of the Northern Royal species at age 61. Grandma hasn’t been seen at her nesting ground at Taiaroa Head, New Zealand, in five years and is presumed dead.

    Albatrosses are expected to live a little more than half as long as Wisdom. They are certainly not expected to lay eggs and raise chicks at an age when most Americans are starting to collect Social Security payments.

    Albatrosses face threats from pollution that kill them each year by the hundreds. Parents are known to frequently feed human-produced plastics to chicks by mistake, blocking their wind pipes and filling their little bellies with deadly junk.

    Nineteen of 21 albatross species are threatened with extinction, and their demise might be linked directly to humans.

    (SD-Agencies)