An albatross who has flown the equivalent of to the moon 12 times and back has hatched a chick for the 37th time. Wisdom the albatross, who has 3,000,000 flying miles, laid another age at the age of 68, making her the world’s oldest known breeding bird. She spends her life, like other albatross, flying the world’s oceans, landing only to mate and nest. They are even said to sleep on the wing.
Wisdom was tagged by scientists who say that she has been with her current partner since 2006. She has outlived several others. Biologist Kelly Goodale has been monitoring her from a refuge on an island near Hawaii where she returns to nest. She said: ‘Midway Atoll’s habitat doesn’t just contain millions of birds, it contains countless generations and families of albatrosses. ‘If you can imagine when Wisdom returns home she is likely surrounded by what were once her chick and potentially their chicks. What a family reunion.’ The atoll is a refuge for 1.2million albatross – including around 70 per cent of the world’s Laysan albatross and 40 per cent of all black-footed albatross.