An Update on Wisdom, a Laysan Albatross

Environmental & Science Education
Edward Hessler

By
John Klavitter/U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(http://gallery.usgs.gov/tags/NR2011_03_08)
[Public domain],
via Wikimedia Commons

Earlier I told the story of Wisdom, a Laysan Albatross who is the oldest living banded bird (65).

She had laid what could be her 40th egg and was incubating it. Well, the chick hatched. It was first seen exiting its shell February 1 while Wisdom was out stoking up calories.

NPR has a story today, February 10, about this amazing Mom and the chick that the two parents incubated to hatching, a period of about 7 months.

Wisdom was banded on Midway Atoll in 1956.  She has logged many kilometers since then. The estimate is about 4,828,032 km (3,000,000 miles).