Big birds live longer than small birds. Albatrosses, with their 10-foot wingspans and beaks the size of an Idaho potato, may live for a hundred years.

Wisdom, a Laysan albatross banded in 1956 when she was already an adult, is the oldest known wild bird at 75 or older. Chandler Robbins, the biologist who banded her in 1956, died peacefully at 98 after a distinguished career as a conservation biologist and birding mentor. It remains to be seen whether Wisdom outlives her biologist friend, but at 75 she is still laying eggs and raising young, whereas Robbins was likely done having kids shortly after he banded Wisdom in his 30s.

As a youngster, Wisdom spent a half a year in the nest being fed by her parents as a fuzzy chick, then roamed the oceans for 5-10 years before settling down to find

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