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Oldest Bird in US raising a new chick
Thursday, 10 March 2011 17:22
A Laysan albatross named Wisdom has this week been seen raising a chick, which is extraordinary considering she was first tagged by US Geological Survey scientists back in 1956 while she was incubating an egg. Laysan albatrosses are known to not mate until they are 8 or 9 years of age, which means that at the closest estimate, Wisdom must be in her early 60s.
Wisdom is reporting as looking great, and if she is still able to raise chicks well into old age then we can only be happy for her. Scientists have estimated that, in her lifetime, Wisdom may have raised between 30 and 35 chicks; Laysan albatrosses mate for life with both parents raising the young, however it is unsure that Wisdom has had the same mate for the past 60 years.
Despite the fact that the process or practice of ringing birds has not changed very much over the past century, it is still proving to be an invaluable method in studying wildlife and has helped improve the understanding of birds by a considerable amount over the years, and will no doubt continue to do so for many more.
