Wisdom (Z333) is a wild female Laysan albatross, the oldest confirmed wild bird in the world and the oldest banded bird in the world. First tagged in the 1950s at Midway by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), she was still incubating eggs as late as 2020 and has received international media coverage in her lifetime. She was spotted alive and apparently healthy as recently as December 2023.
Wisdom with one of her chicks, March 2011
Wisdom (left) with her mate in 2015
The Laysan albatross is a large seabird that ranges across the North Pacific. The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are home to 99.7% of the population. This small gull-like albatross is the second-most common seabird in the Hawaiian Islands, with an estimated population of 1.18 million birds, and is currently expanding its range to new islands. The Laysan albatross was first described as Diomedea immutabilis by Lionel Walter Rothschild, in 1893, on the basis of a specimen from Laysan Island.
Laysan albatross
Laysan albatross landing on water near one of the Aleutian Islands in Alaska
Laysan albatross with chick on Midway
The then at least 60-year-old female named Wisdom with her chick, in March 2011