For decades, Wisdom, a laying albatross, has returned every year to the Midway Islands near Hawaii to breed. According to wildlife experts, she has done so with the same partner – albatrosses are known to be monogamous – and has laid over 50 eggs during her lifetime.
And now it's time again. Her partner has not been seen in several years, and Wisdom has now found a new love that helps her incubate the egg.
We are optimistic that the egg will hatch, says Jonathan Plissner, supervisory biologist at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge.
Images and video clips from the national park show how the prospective parents appear to talk to the egg before the male settles over it.
Wisdom was identified and tagged when she laid her first egg in the national park in 1956. She was then assumed to be at least five years old – the age at which laying albatrosses reach sexual maturity. This means that Wisdom will be at least 74 years old by the end of the month, making her the oldest known wild bird in the world.
