Wisdom (above left) is a wild female Laysan albatross, the oldest confirmed wild bird in the world and the oldest banded bird in the world. First tagged in 1956 at Midway Atoll by the U.S. Geological Survey, she was still incubating eggs as late as 2024, and now she’s been spotted alive and apparently healthy. Wisdom is now at least 73 years old and still going back to Midland Island each year. Biologists estimate that she has flown at least 3 million miles, laid 50-60 eggs, and fledged some 30 chicks in her lifetime, qualifying her as a Supermom and even a Super Grandma. Sadly, her longtime mate, Akeakamai, hasn’t returned to Midway the last two seasons. Wisdom hasn't nested in either of those years, though she has been seen shaking it up in courtship dances with other albatrosses several decades her junior. Biologists who have been following Wisdom celebrate her monumental staying power and her own small but significant contribution to building back the numbers of Laysan albatrosses.
