Wisdom, the world’s oldest documented wild bird at 74 years old, has laid what experts estimate to be her 60th egg, according to US wildlife officials.
The Laysan albatross, a long-winged seabird, has returned to the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, located near the northwestern boundary of the Hawaiian Archipelago.
It was her first in four years, in the Pacific Region of the US Fish & Wildlife Service said in a post on Facebook earlier this week.
Since 2006, Wisdom and her partner Akeakamai had regularly visited the atoll in the Pacific Ocean for egg-laying and hatching.
Laysan albatrosses, known for mating for life, typically lay one egg annually. However, officials noted that Akeakamai has been absent for several years, and upon her return last week, Wisdom was observed interacting with a new male.
Jonathan Plissner, supervisory wildlife biologist at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in a statement said that, “We are optimistic that the egg will hatch.”
The refuge serves as a nesting ground for millions of seabirds annually, reported The Associated Press.
Albatross parents share the responsibility of incubating their egg, a process that lasts approximately seven months. Once hatched, chicks take five to six months to develop before embarking on their first flight over the ocean, where they spend most of their lives feeding on squid and fish eggs.
Wisdom, an albatross first banded as an adult in 1956, has successfully raised up to 30 chicks over her remarkable lifetime, according to Plissner.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration indicates that Laysan albatrosses typically live for 68 years.
