About Wisdom the Albatross 

 

• Banded in 1956 (when she was at least 5 years old), Wisdom the Albatross is considered to be the world's oldest living bird. When she was born 69 years ago, John F. Kennedy was President!

 

• An albatross is a large flying seabird. All 22 species of Albatross are vulnerable to extinction, with 3 species listed as critically endangered by the IUCN. Wisdom is a Laysan albatross. 

 

• Before Wisdom's miraculous life was documented, the estimated lifespan of a Laysan Albatross was 12 to 40 years.

 

Photo Credit: Kiah Walker / USFWS

 

• Wisdom is estimated to have raised at least 35 chicks over her lifetime. With her most recent chick hatching in 2018. 

 

• Wisdom flies about 50,000 miles each year, meaning she has flown at least 2 to 3 million miles since she was first banded (that's the equivalent of 4 to 6 trips from the Earth to the Moon and back!).

 

• “It is beyond words to describe the amazing accomplishments of this wonderful bird... If she were human, she would be eligible for Medicare in a couple years, yet she is still regularly raising young and annually circumnavigating the Pacific Ocean. Simply incredible.” - 

  Bruce Peterjohn, chief of the North American Bird Banding Program at the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel, MD.

 

• “Everyone continues to be inspired by Wisdom as a symbol of hope for her species”- Doug Staller, the Fish and Wildlife Service Superintendent for the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument 

 

About the Midway Atoll NWR

Photo Credit: Daniel Clark / USFWS 

 

• The Midway Atoll is a remote, northwest Hawaiian island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The US Navy famously defended the Atoll in 1942, during WWII, at the Battle of Midway. 

 

• Wisdom, along with over a million other Albatross, use the Midway Atoll as a migratory breeding colony. 

 

• Midway Atoll is situated on a massive ocean current that transports an unthinkable amount of garbage to and around the refuge. In 2016, an 8-day cleanup effort at Midway led to the removal of over 15,000 pounds of trash.

 

• Albatross feed along the surface of the ocean, in the process they end up swallowing floating garbage (mostly plastic), which they then inadvertently feed to their chicks. 

 

 

Photo Credit: Claire Fackler / NOAA

 

• Biologists believe 5 tons of plastic are fed to Albatross chicks at Midway each year. Cigarette lighters, bottle caps, and fishing line are some of the most common sources.

 

• Consumption of plastic disrupts the chick's ability to digest the nutrients it needs to survive. While sharp debris can slice their stomach and intestines. 

 

• At the end of the fledgling season, when all the Albatross depart, the island is scattered with garbage and plastic-filled chick corpses. 

 

Photo Credit: NOAA

 

Aim of the Wisdom the Albatross Collection

 

• To help in the fight to sustain this species, Kirtlandii will be donating $1 per Widsom the Albatross Collection item sold on kirtlandii.com, 

  to Friends of the Midway Atoll (FOMA), a non-profit organization committed to preserving, protecting and restoring the biological diversity and historic resources of Midway Atoll. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Main Photo Credit: Kiah Walker / USFWS