The world's oldest bird actively searches for new mates

Biologists on Midway Island discovered a more than 70-year-old female Laysan albatross named Wisdom courting potential mates months after the end of nesting season.

The world's oldest wild bird is courting a new lover on a remote island off the coast of Hawaii, after losing his longtime partner. The female Wisdom albatross is likely over 70 years old and has been flying around the North Pacific since President Eisenhower was in office, according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).

Wisdom albatrosses (far right) actively court new potential mates. (Photo: USFWS)

Biologists first identified Wisdom in 1956 and placed a collar on her right leg. The bracelet is still on its leg today. The albatross was an adult when it wore the collar, meaning it could have been 72 years old, 20 years longer than the average lifespan of the animal. "Wisdom, the world's oldest wild bird, was photographed last month at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, jumping with potential mates," said the Pacific region representative of the USFWS, said. "Her long-time partner Akeakamai has not returned and has been missing for the past two nesting seasons."

The Laysan albatross ( Phoebastria immutabilis ) , is a long-lived seabird that pairs for life with one mate. They are named after the population of 145,000 pairs on Laysan, an island northwest of Hawaii 1,500km from Honolulu. Female Laysan albatross usually lay an egg in the first half of December, but Wisdom still participates in the mating dance until spring, according to Jonathan Plissner, a biologist at the Atoll Wildlife Refuge. Midway is 2,110 km from Honolulu.

Midway Atoll contains the world's largest population of Laysan albatrosses, with 600,000 breeding pairs returning to the two sand islands each year. According to Plissner, Wisdom actively courted other birds during March. It appeared sporadically on Midway Atoll since the start of nesting season in late November 2023. Plissner doesn't think Wisdom will nest this year, but she's still quite agile for her age.

USFWS scientists estimate the elderly albatross flew 5.6 million kilometers in its lifetime, equivalent to seven round-trip flights to the Moon. Laysan albatrosses begin breeding at 3 to 4 years old, according to the American Bird Conservancy, which indicates that Wisdom has laid 60 eggs in her lifetime, about half of which hatch into chicks while the other half can Failure to hatch or loss due to predators.

Between nesting seasons, Wisdom spends nearly half the year at sea, flying across the Pacific sky for hours without flapping her 3-foot-long wings. Like many other Laysan albatross, it fuels its long flight by eating small squid, acorns, fish and crustaceans.