{"id":2686,"date":"2014-02-07T15:35:23","date_gmt":"2014-02-07T15:35:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fierce.jnfr.com\/?p=2686"},"modified":"2014-02-07T15:35:23","modified_gmt":"2014-02-07T15:35:23","slug":"the-first-family-photo-wisdom-and-her-newest-chick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fierce.jnfr.com\/?p=2686","title":{"rendered":"The First Family Photo: Wisdom and her newest chick!"},"content":{"rendered":"

usfwspacific<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

\"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Wisdom and her chick on Midway Atoll NWR. Photo credit: Ann Bell\/USFWS<\/em><\/p>\n

A\u00a0 Laysan albatross known as \u201cWisdom\u201d \u2013 at least 63 years old \u2013 is once again busy rearing a chick on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge <\/a>within the Papah\u0101naumoku\u0101kea Marine National Monument<\/a>.\u00a0 \u00a0The newly hatched chick was first seen by visitor services manager, Ann Bell, being cared for by Wisdom the morning of February 4, 2014.\u00a0 Wisdom is a female albatross first banded as an adult in 1956.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the world\u2019s oldest known bird in the wild, Wisdom is an iconic symbol of inspiration and hope for all seabird species.\u201d said Dan Clark, refuge manager for Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. \u201cShe provides to the world valuable information about the longevity of these beautiful creatures.\u00a0 In the case of Wisdom, she has logged literally millions of miles over the Pacific Ocean in her lifetime to find enough fish eggs and squid to feed herself and multiple chicks, allowing us\u00a0the opportunity to measure the health of our oceans which sustain albatross as well as ourselves.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Wisdom sitting on her nest on Midway Atoll NWR. Photo credit: Ann Bell\/USFWS<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cHer ability to continue to hatch chicks during the last half century is beyond impressive despite the threats that albatross face at sea.\u201d said refuge biologist Pete Leary. \u201cIt is a poignant and overwhelming reality that plastics discarded at sea float, from toothbrushes to millions of bottle caps, float and, are used as a substrate for flying fish to attach their eggs, a food highly prized by foraging albatross and ultimately regurgitated into the chick\u2019s mouth,\u201d said Leary. \u201cIn addition, the chick\u2019s sole survival is completely dependent on the health of Wisdom and her life-long mate and their dual ability to provide for food and protection.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Nesting albatross on Midway Atoll NWR. Photo credit: David Patte\/USFWS<\/em><\/p>\n

Albatrosses arrive on Midway Atoll Refuge by the hundreds of thousands to nest each year. Refuge staff and volunteers are responsible for monitoring the health of these extraordinary, beautiful ocean gliders. After spending five months at sea molting and feeding, albatross return to the same nesting site on Midway Atoll Refuge.\u00a0 Once they mate, an albatross pair will immediately begin to craft a sturdy nest. If they successfully incubate the egg and a chick hatches, each parent takes turns brooding their chick, until it can be left on its own, when they both will then forage for the chick\u2019s meals over the next six months.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

usfwspacific: Wisdom and her chick on Midway Atoll NWR. Photo credit: Ann Bell\/USFWS A\u00a0 Laysan albatross known as \u201cWisdom\u201d \u2013 at least 63 years old \u2013 is once again busy rearing a chick on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge within the Papah\u0101naumoku\u0101kea Marine National Monument.\u00a0 \u00a0The newly hatched chick was first seen by visitor services manager, Ann Bell, being cared for by Wisdom the morning of February 4, 2014.\u00a0 Wisdom is a female albatross first banded as an adult in 1956.\u00a0 \u201cAs the world\u2019s oldest known bird in the wild, Wisdom is an iconic symbol of inspiration and hope for …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p13tCM-Hk","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fierce.jnfr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fierce.jnfr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fierce.jnfr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fierce.jnfr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fierce.jnfr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fierce.jnfr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2686\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fierce.jnfr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fierce.jnfr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fierce.jnfr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}