Wisdom, a Laysan albatross and the world’s oldest known breeding bird in the wild, has returned to Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge and Battle of Midway National Memorial. The approximately 67 year old Wisdom flies thousands of miles each year to return to Midway Atoll. Her arrival is overshadowed only by the news that she has also laid an egg.

Each year millions of albatross return to Midway Atoll in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument to nest and raise their young. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Refuge staff spotted Wisdom and her mate, Akeakamai, near their nest in late November, and on December 13 staff confirmed that Akeakamai was on the nest incubating an egg. Wisdom and her mate return to the same nest site on Midway Atoll each year. Since 2006, Wisdom has successfully raised and fledged at least nine chicks and traveled millions of miles in her lifetime.

Photo: As Wisdom forages offshore for food, her mate, Akeakamai, shares the responsibility of caring for their egg. This photo captured on December 13th is the first images of Akeakamai and Wisdom’s egg since their return to Midway Atoll. Photo credit: Jodie Spross/USFWS Volunteer.

“An albatross egg is important to the overall albatross population” explained Bob Peyton, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Project Leader for Midway Atoll Refuge and Memorial. “If you consider that albatross don’t always lay an egg each year and when they do they only raise one chick at a time – each egg is tremendously important in maintaining the survival of a colony.”

Photo: From October to December, Albatrosses return and descend upon the island transforming the landscape into an albatross cornucopia. Photo credit: USFWS.

Midway Atoll is home to over three million seabirds, including the largest colony of albatross in the world. Over 70% of the world’s Laysan albatross population and 29 species of birds rely on the Refuge as a safe place to breed and rear their chicks.

Photos: Midway Atoll’s three small islands provide a virtually predator-free safe haven for more than 3 million birds. Photos are courtesy of USFWS staff and volunteers.

Albatross face a myriad of threats – from involving longline commercial fishing and marine debris to invasive species and shrinking habitat. Throughout the vast expanses of ocean, remote atolls and islands like those found in the Monument are critical refuges for seabirds, like Wisdom.

Photo: The image displays a glimpse of a tender moment between chick and parent Laysan albatross. Globally significant, Midway supports 36 percent of all Black-footed albatross and 73 percent of all Laysan albatross. Photo credit: USFWS.



Need More Wisdom and Midway?

For more adorable photos and videos of Wisdom visit Wisdom’s Flickr account.

Read more stories about Midway Atoll and the Laysan Albatross

Learn more about the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service addresses threats to the world’s largest albatross colony at: