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He is a quiet force of nature. It has fascinated scientists for several years, to the point where they gave it a name: Wisdom. It is in fact a female Laysan albatross which is said to be the oldest wild bird in the world, having passed the venerable age of 70 years.
Every year, this seabird comes to breed at the same nesting and brooding site in the Midway Archipelago, in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands. And once again this spring, it was observed in the area by experts who study the species.
If they are able to estimate her age, Wisdom was ringed in 1956, when she was already a mature female of breeding age. Since then, she has laid at least 50 eggs, only one each year, and she continued to reproduce with the same partner, on the same nest, until two years ago.
This year, in the absence of her male partner, Wisdom was observed and photographed in full courtship display. “She was still actively courting other birds,” biologist Jonathan Plissner of the US Fish and Wildlife Service said in a Facebook post.
A feat for a bird that has already exceeded the average life expectancy of albatrosses by 20 years. Not only does it appear healthy, according to the biologist’s observations, but it also behaves like a younger bird.
Its longevity is all the more exceptional as the species is exposed to various dangers in its daily environment, including fishing gear, which is very present in its marine habitat in the North Pacific. The Laysan albatross spends the vast majority of the year at sea, mainly to feed. And part of the world’s population frequents Canadian waters.
The species is also considered to be “near threatened”, according to the criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
If the venerable age of this bird is an exceptional case, certain animal species can have significant longevity. This is the case, for example, of the Greenland shark, a fish that could live up to 400 years. An imposing Seychelles land turtle, named Jonathan, also celebrated his 191st birthday last year.
Among mammals, let us highlight the fascinating life expectancy of the bowhead whale, a species which lives in particular in the northern waters of Canada. It could be around 200 years old. In 2007, Alaska Native hunters found a fragment of a harpoon dating from the end of the 19th century in the flesh of one of these cetaceans.e century.