74-year-old mom of 50 expecting again…
They recorded her laying an egg in Hawaii in 1956. It takes five years for an albatross to reach sexual maturity, so she was at least that old. That makes her the oldest known wild bird today. Her name is Wisdom. Which isn’t really apt because her name was Wisdom when she was a five-year-old.
She’s laid 50 to 60 eggs since then, and maybe 30 of them have lived to fledge. That’s a lotta albatross.
They mate for life, so when her hubby stopped turning up some years ago, they assumed she was done. Nope. She recently began flirting with the boys and apparently snagged herself one.
Wisdom, you minx.
I’d promise to follow up, but the reporting account is on Instagram. I don’t do Instagram.
Posted: December 10th, 2024 under birds.
Comments: 4
Comments
Comment from Uncle Al
Time: December 10, 2024, 8:01 pm
Way to go, Wisdom! And if hubby #2 wears out, best of luck with #3!
I’ve heard that members of the parrot fam can live to very advanced ages, but all those seem to be domesticated pets. That there’s a bird in the wild at age 74+ still reproducing successfully is gratifying and a pleasant surprise.
And I’m with you on eschewing Instagram, @Stoaty. Zuck has made some noises lately that sound like he might be trying to pass as a human being but I’m still very skeptical. So anything Meta for me is a no-no.
Comment from Durnedyankee – Albatross!
Time: December 11, 2024, 11:47 am
“Do you get wafers with that it?”
Let us celebrate the fact that Wisdom, amazing creature, I had no idea, isn’t anywhere near the miracle of the Net Zero cult and one of their “save the planet, massacre the birds” bird blenderizing wind turbines.
Comment from Some Vegetable
Time: December 11, 2024, 3:05 pm
Albatross? Did someone say Albatross?
Well, mandatory Albatross reference follows:
At length did cross an Albatross,
Thorough the fog it came;
As if it had been a Christian soul,
We hailed it in God’s name.
It ate the food it ne’er had eat,
And round and round it flew.
The ice did split with a thunder-fit;
The helmsman steered us through!
And a good south wind sprung up behind;
The Albatross did follow,
And every day, for food or play,
Came to the mariner’s hollo!
There’s more to the story but it’s sad, so never mind.
Comment from agar io
Time: December 19, 2024, 11:41 am
The objective is to grow your cell by consuming smaller cells scattered around the map and other players’ cells while avoiding being eaten by larger cells.
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