Wisdom, believed to be at least 62 years old, hatched her most recent chick Feb. 3 on Midway Atoll National Wildlife
Refuge .
In all, 270 people entered the naming contest via Wisdom's Facebook page , with seven people coming up with the same suggestion for the chick's name. A $500 donation will be made to the “ Friends of Midway Atoll NWR ” by Wisdom's human representative on behalf of
those that entered the winning name.
Wisdom was first banded in 1956, in the same location of the refuge, at an estimated minimum age of 5 years old.
This marks the sixth consecutive year the bird has had a
successful hatch at the refuge. According to Bruce Peterjohn, chief of the North American Bird Banding Program at the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel, Md., Wisdom has likely raised at least 30 to 35 chicks
during her breeding life. That number, however, may be higher because
experienced parents tend to be more successful at rearing chicks
than younger pairs.
Wisdom made headlines in 2011 by surviving a tsunami that washed over parts of the mid-Pacific atoll and killed thousands of
albatross in the aftermath of the major earthquakes that struck Japan.
-- Kelly Burgess
Photo courtesy of U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
