World’s oldest seabird hatches new chick at Midway Atoll

HONOLULU – The world’s oldest known seabird has a new chick.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Thursday Wisdom’s offspring hatched at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge last week. The Laysan albatross is at least 66 years old and is the world’s oldest breeding bird in the wild.

Fish and Wildlife Service project leader Bob Peyton says Wisdom has returned to Midway for over six decades. He says she has raised at least 30 chicks.

Midway Atoll is home to the world’s largest colony of albatross. The island about 1,200 miles northwest of Honolulu was the site of a pivotal World War II battle.

Nearly 70 per cent of the world’s Laysan albatross rely on the atoll for habitat.

Midway is part of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument.