---
title: "One breeding season finishes with Pukekura/Taiaroa Head’s Northern Royal Albatrosses as a new one starts"
---

# One breeding season finishes with Pukekura/Taiaroa Head’s Northern Royal Albatrosses as a new one starts

 ![Northern Royal Albatross across harbour](https://acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Albatrosses/N/Northern_Royal/Northern_Royal_Albatross_across_harbour.jpg)

 *Short first flight: a Northern Royal Albatross comes to ground after fledging; the headland colony is in the distance across the harbour*

 [Thirty-six eggs](https://www.acap.aq/latest-news/3487-taiaroa-head-s-northern-royal-albatrosses-finish-laying-and-get-their-royal-cam-back?highlight=WyJ0YWlhcm9hIiwidGFpYXJvYSdzIiwicm95YWwiLCIncm95YWwiLCJicm9uaSJd) were laid in the 2019/20 breeding season of [globally Endangered](http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/northern-royal-albatross-diomedea-sanfordi) and [nationally Naturally Uncommon](http://www.nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/northern-royal-albatross)[Northern Royal Albatrosses](https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/birds/birds-a-z/albatrosses/royal-albatross-toroa/) *Diomedea sanfordi* in New Zealand’s only mainland albatross colony at [Pukekura/Taiaroa Head](https://www.acap.aq/en/news/news-archive/60-2013-news-archive/1307-acap-breeding-sites-no-6-taiaroa-head-pukekura-new-zealand-an-albatross-colony-on-the-mainland?highlight=WyJ0YWlhcm9hIiwidGFpYXJvYSdzIiwibm8iLCInbm8iXQ==) on the end of South Island’s Otago Peninsula.  From these eggs, 24 chicks have now fledged, with the last leaving the headland on 3 October – giving an overall breeding success of 66.7%.  Fifty-one eggs were laid in the previous 2018/19 season, a record from which 28 chicks fledged (54.9%).  The high number of failures in 2017/18 (with only 13 fledglings) contributed to the record number of eggs the next year, as failed pairs switched demi-populations of the biennially-breeding species.

 One of the 2019/20 fledglings landed on the opposite side of the Otago Harbour (see photo above), from where it was collected by the [Department of Conservation](https://www.doc.govt.nz/) and returned to the colony; after five days it fledged for a second time during a strong wind, according to the Royal Albatross Centre’s [Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/albatrosscentre).

 ![Atawhai before fledging](https://acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Albatrosses/N/Northern_Royal/Atawhai_before_fledging.jpg)

 *Atawhai shortly before fledging*

 The chick watched by the live-streaming ‘[Royal Cam](https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/birds/birds-a-z/albatrosses/royal-albatross-toroa/royal-cam/)’ fledged successfully on 16 September, 230 days after hatching -  but not before being named [Atawhai](https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/dunedins-northern-royal-albatross-chick-finally-given-name), meaning “to show kindness” in the Māori language, following a public vote.  It is intended to [live-stream](https://www.doc.govt.nz/royalcam) a new nest from December.  Meanwhile the first adults of this biennially breeding species, recognizable by their colour bands, have started to arrive in the colony for the 2020/21 season.  As has now become a tradition, bells were rung in the nearby city of Dunedin to herald the first bird’s return on 18 September.

 *"Chick Atawhai Feels the Winds Beneath her Wings on Morning of Fledge"*

 With thanks to Sharyn Broni, Ranger, Biodiversity, New Zealand Department of Conservation.

 *John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 09 October 2020*