World’s oldest seabird hatches new chick at Midway Atoll

Feb 16, 2017 | 6:30 PM

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.