Wisdom, the oldest known banded bird in the wild, is a female Laysan albatross that nests within the world’s largest albatross colony on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge.
She is at least 65-years old and a world renowned symbol of hope for all species that depend upon the health of the ocean to survive.
https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Midway_Atoll/wildlife_and_habitat/Wisdom_Profile.html
Article on the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service website
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Conservation History
Mōlī, Hawaiian for Laysan albatross means Hawaiian tattooing implement (their bones were excellent tattoo implements), graced every island in the Hawaiian archipelago nesting by the millions for thousands of years.
However, non-native mammals such as pigs, rabbits, cats and dogs that were brought to the islands did not evolve with these magnificent ground-nesting seabirds.
Furthermore, albatross were easy to approach because of their instinct to stay on the nest at all cost, making them vulnerable to prey by non-native predators and humans.
By the turn of the century albatross were slaughtered by the thousands and feathers were sold at high cost to adorn ladies hats in Europe; albumen from eggs was used the film development industry.
As a consequence millions of albatross were killed and the ones that survived were under constant pressure by non-native mammals and human impacts.
This report motivated Theodore Roosevelt to designate the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands as one of the first federally protected seabird reserves in the country in 1909 in an attempt to stop the wanton destruction of seabirds, particularly albatrosses.
The story of a Laysan albatross named Wisdom
It began to unfold in 2002 when a miraculously-timed sighting of a band number on an albatross was documented by bird biologist Chandler Robbins.
Due to the U.S. bird banding program rigors and meticulous tracking process, the number was traceable to a bird banded on Midway, December 10, 1956.
The data sheet indicated Chandler Robbins (40 years-old at the time) gave Wisdom her first band in 1956. When Robbins returned to Midway in 2002 he had indeed re-sighted the same bird he wrapped his arms around 46 years earlier to attach a band.
Fast forward to five years later in 2006 when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) staff emailed Robbins to inquire about an approximate location of the bird Robbins banded.
Albatross have strong nest site fidelity instincts.
When they reach breeding age they return to their home turf to find a mate and nest on the same remote island where they were reared as a chick and later become fixated on their own waterfront nest site location.
Robbins relayed the information to Midway Atoll that the bird was nesting in area behind the old Navy Bravo Barracks. Shortly afterward, the bird was sighted by FWS volunteers.
Later that day, Refuge Biologist John Klavitter returned to the site and removed the metal band that Robbins had given her in 2002 to make room for the new red Z333 band so biologists could easily monitor her over time.
Inspired by New Zealand’s “Grandma” who at time was the oldest known albatross in the world, Klavitter appropriately named Midway’s oldest albatross, Wisdom, realizing that this ancient and magnificent albatross required a name that would honor her.