Northern Royal Albatross

About the Site

The Royal Albatross Cam, known since 2016 as the RoyalCam, is located on the windswept end of the Otago Peninsula, in the Taiaroa Head Nature Reserve. Taiaroa Head (or Pukekura) is world renowned as the only mainland colony of albatross in the Southern Hemisphere, and was an important site for Māori and (later) European settlers. With nearly 10,000 seabirds residing on Taiaroa Head, the wildlife viewing opportunities at this site are immense, but timing is everything. Some species are only present for part of the year, others are nocturnal with their land based activities; others, like the giant albatross, prefer certain weather where there is wind to soar.

About the Albatross

Thanks to the efforts of the New Zealand Department of Conservation, the Northern Royal Albatross nesting at Taiaroa Head have been banded, and their individual histories have been recorded through prior nesting seasons. The Royal Albatross cam has featured a different nesting pair each year since starting in the 2015/2016 season (click to read about past breeding seasons).

The 2022–23 season features male, GLY (named for his colored leg bands: Green, Lime, Yellow) and female, L (Lime). The fertile egg was laid on November 4, 2022. 

About the Albatross Conservation Effort

The nesting area on the headland of the Otago Pensinsula’s Taiaroa Head is a ‘hot spot’ – a sheltered area where summer ground temperatures can reach more than 120 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees Celsius). These conditions aren’t ideal for a seabird that’s far better adapted to subantarctic conditions, but as the albatross have chosen this place, several strategies are used to increase the likelihood of breeding success.

In earlier times both adults and chicks could die from heat exhaustion. There is now a sprinkler system that sprays water over the nest to cool the birds on hot days.

Hot conditions during hatching is a major problem as adults will stand up to cool themselves, leaving the egg exposed to risk of fly strike. Albatross chicks can take 6 days to complete the hatch. Any fly eggs or live maggots laid in the egg during this period will often result in a dead chick.

Staff now use Avian Insect Liquidator on the young chicks and nest and hatch virtually all eggs in the incubators. This has reduced fly strike mortality to zero.

Predator traps for feral cats and mustelids are used for what is probably the longest running predator control program in New Zealand.

Providing supplementary food to chicks is important if a parent goes missing before the chick fledges. A chick may die of starvation otherwise as it takes two parents all their energy to raise one chick, and then they need a year off from breeding. Increasingly, chicks with both parents are being supplementary fed if for some reason the parents do not bring back enough food for them to survive the winter.

About the Team

Multiple groups are working to help increase awareness about the Northern Royal Albatross nesting at Taiaroa Head. New Zealand’s Department of Conservation utilizes a team of rangers that are involved in the hands-on, day-to-day efforts at the colony. In addition, the publicly-accessible Royal Albatross Centre (also located at Taiaroa Head) provides opportunities for visitors to view the wildlife and to learn more about the importance of conserving the thousands of seabirds nesting there.