Wisdom, the world’s oldest documented wild bird at 74, is laying what experts estimate is her 60th egg, according to US wildlife officials.
The lesson albatross, the long-winged seabird, has returned Midway Atoll National Wildlife RefugeLocated near the northwestern border of the Hawaiian archipelago.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Pacific Region said in a Facebook post earlier this week that it was her first in four years.
Since 2006, Wisdom and her partner Akekamai have regularly visited the atoll to lay eggs and hatch in the Pacific Ocean.
Leyson albatrosses, known to mate for life, usually lay one egg annually. However, officials noted that Akekamai has been absent for several years, and when she returned last week, Wisdom was seen interacting with a new man.
“We are optimistic that the eggs will hatch,” Jonathan Plissner, supervisory wildlife biologist at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, said in a statement.
As The Associated Press reports, the refuge serves as a nesting ground for millions of seabirds annually.
Albatross parents share the responsibility of incubating their eggs, a process that lasts about seven months. Once hatched, the chicks take five to six months to develop before taking their first flight out to sea, where they spend most of their lives feeding on squid and fish eggs.
According to Plissner, Wisdom, an albatross first captured as an adult in 1956, has successfully raised 30 chicks during her remarkable lifetime.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration suggests that lesson albatross typically live up to 68 years.