Royal Albatross Chicks Receive Tags That Will Track Them After Fledge

August 13, 2024

Watch rangers from the Department of Conservation affix a leg band and GLS tag to the chick from the Top Flat Track nest.

Northern Royal Albatross chicks from across the breeding colony at Pukekura/Taiaroa Head received their steel leg bands and Geo Location Sensor (GLS) tags last week. In this highlight, staff from the New Zealand Department of Conservation (DOC) arrive to affix a stainless-steel band to the right leg of the Top Flat Track chick on August 9. After the band is placed, a GLS tag is secured to the band with a cable tie.

Why are these tools important? They help track and gather information about these giant ocean wanderers! Each stainless-steel band has a unique number that helps DOC conservationists identify individual albatrosses. The GLS tags are used to collect location data for up to 3 years of movements after the albatrosses leave the breeding colony to aid in research that has never been carried out in this species before. Once the albatrosses return to the breeding colony in search of a mate, the data will be retrieved from the GLS tags.

Tap to learn more about why scientists use GLS tags to track albatrosses. — Watch to learn more about the importance of GLS tagging albatross chicks.

Follow daily updates from the Northern Royal Albatross Cam on Twitter/X @RoyAlbatrossCam.

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Pileated Woodpecker by Lin McGrew / Macaulay Library