INCREDIBLE MAMA BIRD

Forums: Birds, News, Wildlife, Wisdom, Albatross
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This amazing story caught my eye this morning. This article is from the Sydney Morning Herald:

First banded in 1956, Wisdom the albatross is about to lay another egg

Midway Atoll is a part of the Hawaiian island chain, but not a part of the state of Hawaii, having been claimed by the United States before we acquired Hawaii. I believe it's about a thousand miles northwest of the state of Hawaii, but i've not been able to confirm the exact distance on line (i'm not going to spend all morning on this thread).

http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/blogs/6a00d8341bf67c53ef0147e342ef54970b-320wi.jpg

Wisdom the Albatross at home with the kids.

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Type: Discussion • Score: 6 • Views: 2,904 • Replies: 14

@Setanta,

Wow! She doesn't look half her age, does she?

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I'm about the same age . . . i wish i looked that good.

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I wonder if they've id'd any of her family. Are they all long-lived or is it just Wisdom.

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@ehBeth,

Gee Beth where could I find somadat kinda wisdom

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@Setanta,

What's the other name for the albatross?

Oh yeah...gooney bird

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@Ragman,

We have chickens tht are 9 and even 10 years old that continue laying eggs, and the eggs they lay are huge , often with double yolks.

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Gooney bird is used specifically for the northern Pacific albatrosses, such as the one in this story. They only come ashore to mate and sit on their eggs. I have read (and cannot vouch for) that they are called gooney birds because they are so inept on land, especially when coming in for a landing.

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@Setanta,

yeah, I've seen quite a few nature program videos of gooney bird crash-landings.

{Edit: thanks for including those clips. they're priceless}

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@farmerman,

I had no idea that older hens of that vintage still are fertile enough to lay eggs, etc. Mostly in the past I've seen chickens as name-branded and labeled packages.

Those other chickens I've seen that were walking around, were some neighbors pet chickens who disappeared mysteriously from time-to-time.

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@Ragman,

chickens do not, as many people think, go through "henopause". They keep laying till they die.
Meat hickens (except for capons) only live from 8 to 12 weeks depending on how fast they pack it on.
Being a long lived chicken that is loved and respected as another farmhand, is rewarded by tasty hardshelled embryos.

As daddy conehead would say
"I am experiencing morning hunger. I can consume mass quantities of chicken embryos"

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@farmerman,

ahaha! heno-pause, in deed!

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I missed this thread first time around. I was on Midway in 1964. The birds are high entertainment. I loved their landings, tumbling head over heals. I saw one smack into a building. They maintain dignity the entire time and they soar beautifully.

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INCREDIBLE MAMA BIRD

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