Worldīs Oldest Known Wild Bird
Itīs extremely hard to determine how old a wild bird is. Scientists normally rely on tagging - on catching a bird, banding its leg, and then re-catching it later in its life. Scientists have just re-caught a Manx Shearwater in northern Wales which was first caught in 1957, and was probably born in 1952. That makes the bird 50 years old!
Itīs extremely rare for wild birds to grow old. Accidents and predators take their toll long before the bird is in its 20s. However, the Manx Shearwater lives a life of long-distance migrations over the ocean. They spend almost their entire life in the water, only coming to land to breed.
The Manx Shearwater migrate each year between South America and Wales, and at this point the bird has probably traveled over 5 million miles between its migration flights and normal flights. And itīs still growing strong, preparing to breed in its favorite spot.
The oldest recorded wild bird was a royal albatross, known to be around 53 years old. It is assumed that many wild parrots can live to be 100 or more, but none have ever been recorded at that age.
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