White birds with black backs standing on the ground, and an egg in short grass.

Oldest known wild bird, Wisdom, has a new chick!

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Friends of Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge posted the wonderful images of Wisdom and her new chick on Facebook on February 7 and 9, 2025. Wisdom is the world’s oldest known wild bird, at approximately age 74. You can tell it’s Wisdom from her well-known leg band, number Z333. Biologists first identified and banded Wisdom in 1956. The post accompanying the video said:

Look who returned from her respite at sea! Wisdom, the world’s oldest known banded wild bird, preens her chick she is meeting for the first time at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge! A big thanks to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Volunteer Dan Rapp for capturing this precious moment.

Wisdom arrived home yesterday on February 6, 2025 to a chick that was already a week old so let’s hope she found plenty squid, flying fish eggs and crustaceans to eat. Now it is Wisdom’s turn to parent and feed her fast growing chick, that is, until her mate returns to relieve her.

Oldest known wild bird, Wisdom, and her egg

Wisdom first returned to the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in the Pacific in late 2024. In 2023, it seemed clear that Wisdom had lost her long-time mate. But this golden bachelorette now has a new mate.. and, in late 2024, it was clear she’d laid an egg! The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for the Pacific region reported the news on X on December 3, 2024, saying, “SHE DID IT AGAIN!”

The USFWS Pacific posted:

Like other Laysan albatrosses, or moli in Hawaiian, Wisdom returns to the same nesting site each year to reunite with her mate and if able, lay one egg.

For decades she did this with the same partner, Akeakamai. That bird has not been seen for several years, however.

Jon Plissner, supervisory wildlife biologist at Midway Atoll NWR, called Wisdom’s first egg in four years ‘a special joy’ and said she seems to still have the energy and instincts for raising another chick. He wrote in late 2024: ‘We are optimistic that the egg will hatch.’

Overall, it’s estimated that Wisdom has produced 50-60 eggs and as many as 30 chicks that fledged in her lifetime.

Biologists first identified and banded Wisdom in 1956 after she laid an egg, and the large seabirds aren’t known to breed before age five.

The ageless Wisdom can be seen in these photos and videos with her well-known band number Z333. Her new mate was banded last Friday for future identification.


This video of Wisdom – the oldest known wild bird – was produced shortly after she returned to her winter nesting grounds in Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, in December 2024. She returned with a new mate and shortly afterwards laid a new egg!

Wisdom, the oldest known wild bird, is back! The USFWS made the announcement on December 3, 2024. Here she is (center, right, with dark back) with her mate and their egg, partly hidden in the grass. Image via Dan Rapp/ USFWS.
Four white birds with black backs, one with an orange leg band, standing over an egg.
Here’s Wisdom at center with the leg band, guarding her egg. Image via Dan Rapp/ USFWS.
Two white birds with black backs looking intently down at an egg in the grass.
Wisdom (right, with leg band) and her mate (left) stand near Wisdom’s new egg at the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. Image via Dan Rapp/ USFWS.

Laysan albatrosses

Wisdom is a Laysan albatross, or moli. These birds return to tiny atolls in the Pacific every year starting in October. However, because of their long lifespans, they can be a challenge to study. In fact, a typical albatross lives for two to three times the length of a biologist’s career.

Plus, albatrosses are difficult to study because they spend up to 90% of their lives in the air, moving from their summer feeding ground in the northern Pacific, to the tiny atolls in the mid-Pacific that are their places to nest.

Closeup of two birds standing side by side, with black eyes and long beaks.
Here’s Wisdom with her former mate, Akeakamai (“Lover of Wisdom”). Like most pairs of moli, these two returned every year to the same nest site to lay 1 egg. Akeakamai was last seen at the refuge in 2021. Image via USFWS.

Albatrosses are ‘near-threatened’

The population of the Laysan albatross falls in the category of “near-threatened.” To be sure, they’re no longer hunted as they were in the early 1900s. But their numbers haven’t yet recovered.

Previously, in 2009, scientists estimated that around 10,000 albatrosses died annually due to poisoning at Midway. Chicks born in nests close to buildings left behind by the Navy ingested lead-based paint chips that led to their deaths.

By August 2018, the U.S. had remediated the lead problem and declared Midway Atoll lead-free.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has said:

Wisdom’s continued contribution to the fragile albatross population is remarkable and important. Her health and dedication have led to the birth of other healthy offspring, which will help recover albatross populations on Laysan and other islands.

Oldest known wild bird: Six black and white birds standing on the ground with one near the center with beak open, facing another bird.
Here’s the world’s oldest known wild bird, an albatross named Wisdom, at the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in the Pacific in 2023. She’s identifiable by the tag labeled Z333 on her leg. In this image she’s near the center, with an open mouth, appearing to catch up with a friend after her long flight. Image via USWFS/ Jon Plissner.

Bottom line: A beloved albatross named Wisdom is the world’s oldest known wild bird. Friends of Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge – her winter nesting ground – posted this photo!

Read more: New chick for oldest known wild bird Wisdom

Kelly Kizer Whitt

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About the Author:

Kelly Kizer Whitt – EarthSky’s nature and travel vlogger on YouTube – writes and edits some of the most fascinating stories at EarthSky.org. She’s been writing about science, with a focus on astronomy, for decades. She began her career at Astronomy Magazine and made regular contributions to other outlets, including AstronomyToday and the Sierra Club. She has nine published books, including a children’s picture book, Solar System Forecast, and a young adult dystopian novel, A Different Sky.



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