VOA慢速英语2019 世上最长寿鸟62岁 仍能产卵孵化

World’s Oldest Wild Bird Is a Mother Again

The oldest known wild bird in the world has become a mother again.

世界上已知最古老的野生鸟又要做母亲了。

American wildlife officials said the egg of a Laysan albatross named Wisdom opened earlier this month. It happened at the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge¹, northwest of Hawaii.

美国野生动物官员说，一只名叫“智慧（Wisdom）”的黑背信天翁下的蛋于本月初孵化。事情发生在夏威夷西北部的中途岛国家野生动物保护区。

Wisdom is at least 68 years old and has raised at least 31 baby birds, or chicks. Wisdom was first identified as an adult in 1956.

至少68岁的智慧抚育了至少31只雏鸟。1956年，智慧首次被确认已成年。

Wisdom and her mate², Akeakamai, have been returning to the refuge to lay and hatch³ eggs since 2006. Laysan albatrosses mate for life. They lay one egg a year.

智慧和其伴侣“Akeakamai”自2006年开始返回保护区产卵。黑背信天翁一生只与一名伴侣交配。每年只产一枚蛋。

Beth Flint is a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She told the Honolulu Advertiser newspaper, “Wisdom is rewriting history about our understanding of survivorship, how long birds live, and how often they breed⁴.”

贝丝·弗林特（Beth Flint）是美国鱼类和野生动物组织的生物学家。她告诉《火奴鲁鲁广告人报》，“智慧正在颠覆我们对生存、鸟类寿命和繁殖率的认知。”

Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge is home to about 3 million seabirds, including around 1 million Laysen albatrosses.

中途岛国家野生动物保护区是约300万只海鸟的家园，其中包括大约100万只黑背信天翁。

The birds can also be found near Mexico and Japan. The albatrosses spend most of their lives flying over the ocean. They feed on squid and fish eggs. They can fly as far as 2,500 kilometers away from home to look for food. Biologists say they always return to the places of their birth to lay eggs and raise their young.

在墨西哥和日本附近也能发现这种鸟。信天翁一生中的大部分时间都在海上飞行。它们以鱿鱼和鱼卵为食。它们可以飞往离巢2500公里的地方寻找食物。生物学家指出，这类鸟总是返回出生的地方产卵和养育后代。

After an egg is laid, albatrosses take turns sitting on it to keep it warm. This lasts for about seven months. It is a process called incubating.

产下蛋后，信天翁会轮流坐在蛋上保持温度。这一过程大约要持续7个月。该过程名为孵化。

The young chicks fly out to sea about five months after they hatch.

雏鸟孵化后大约五个月就会飞向大海。

Kelly Goodale is a biologist at the refuge. She says Midway Atoll contains “countless generations and families of albatrosses.”

凯利·古德勒（Kelly Goodale）是该保护区的生物学家。她说，“无数代信天翁和信天翁家族在中途岛环礁野生保护区繁衍生息”。

She says that when Wisdom returns to the refuge, she is “surrounded by what were once her chicks and potentially their chicks.”

她说，当智慧飞回保护区时，她“被之前的雏鸟和可能是它们抚育的雏鸟所包围”。

Words in This Story

chick - n. a baby bird

hatch - v. (bird) to come out of an egg

breed - v. to produce young birds, animals, etc...

potentially - adv. capable of becoming real

1 refuge   

n.避难（处），庇护（所）；v.庇护，避难（所）

参考例句：

• They took refuge in a cave yesterday.他们昨天是在一个洞里避难的。
• We took refuge in the lee of the wall.我们在墙的背风处暂避。

2 mate   

n.伙伴，同事；配偶；大副；v.(使)交配

参考例句：

• Where is the mate to this glove?这副手套的另一只在哪儿？
• She has been a faithful mate to him.她一直是他忠实的配偶。

3 hatch   

n.孵化，舱口；vt.孵，孵出，策划；vi. 孵化

参考例句：

• No one knows how the new plan will hatch out.谁也不知道这新方案将怎样制订出来。
• The bird mistook the pebble for egg and tried to hatch it.这只鸟错把卵石当蛋，想去孵它。

4 breed   

n.品种，种类；vi.繁殖，产仔；vt.养殖，产生

参考例句：

• The parents are trying to breed their son a musician.这对父母尽力要把儿子培养成为音乐家。
• This breed of horses is both tall and heavily grown.这种马既高且大。