Wisdom, Laysan Albatross

She’s an old bird, a new mom, and a survivor. Wisdom, a laysan albatross in her sixties, and her chick survived a tsunami that struck their Pacific island home in March. The area was hit hard by ocean waves following the 9.0 earthquake in Japan.

Wisdom is the oldest known wild bird in North America. She was first tagged in the 1950s at the age of five. Since then, the eight-pound albatross has been making chicks longer than some people have been alive, raising over thirty little birds. Wisdom can also put any frequent flyer to shame, logging over three million miles of flight time in her long life. She is part of a  group of sea birds that breed on the Hawaiian islands and feed off of the West coast of North America.

To find out more about birds like Wisdom and how you can help wildlife, visit NWF’s wildlife page.