---
title: "The ‘Royal Cam’ at Taiaroa Head‘s Northern Royal Albatross colony gets going again for its ninth season"
---

# The ‘Royal Cam’ at Taiaroa Head‘s Northern Royal Albatross colony gets going again for its ninth season

*![Royal Cam 2023 2024 pair Sharyn Broni](https://acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Albatrosses/N/Northern_Royal/Royal_Cam_2023-2024_pair_Sharyn_Broni.jpg)  
The 2023/2024 Royal Cam pair at its nest, photograph by Sharyn Broni*

 The new [Royal Cam](https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/birds/birds-a-z/albatrosses/royal-albatross-toroa/royal-cam/) pair of [globally Endangered](http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/northern-royal-albatross-diomedea-sanfordi) and [Nationally Vulnerable](http://www.nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/northern-royal-albatross) Northern Royal Albatrosses *Diomedea sanfordi* in the mainland colony at [Pukekura/Taiaroa Head](https://acap.aq/news/news-archive/2013-news-archive/acap-breeding-sites-no-6-taiaroa-head-pukekura-new-zealand-an-albatross-colony-on-the-mainland) on New Zealand’s South Island for the 2023/24 season has been chosen.  Colour banded LGK and LGL, the female laid her egg on 7 November and the pair is currently sharing incubation duties.  The birds, which successfully raised Royal Cam chicks in 2019 (Karere) and again in 2021 (Tiaki), are also sharing cam duty with another pair, BOK and WYL, breeding just a few metres away.

 *![Royal Cam 2023 2024 DOC](https://acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Albatrosses/N/Northern_Royal/Royal_Cam_2023-2024_DOC.jpg)  
Follow the live-streaming video from the Royal Cam [here](https://bit.ly/2MyVNUi)*

 *![preview northernroyal en](https://acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Albatrosses/N/Northern_Royal/preview_northernroyal_en.jpg)  
The ACAP Species Infographic for the Northern Royal Albatross has been sponsored by the New Zealand Department of Conservation,  Download it from [here](https://acap.aq/world-albatross-day/acap-species-educational-series/species-infographics)*

 Meanwhile, Moana, the  the first ever Royal Cam chick, was colour banded with yellow A55 on 15 December 2023. She returned to Taiaroa Head for the first time in January 2023 after fledging seven years earlier in 2016, so this is the second season she is visiting as a pre-breeder ([click here](https://www.facebook.com/albatrosscentre)).

 *![Moana after banding Leon Chu](https://acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Albatrosses/N/Northern_Royal/Moana_after_banding_Leon_Chu.jpg)**Moana, after being colour banded, photograph by Leon Chu*

 The Northern Royal Albatross is a biennially breeding species, as are all six great albatross species in the genus *Diomedea*, with essentially two cohorts breeding in alternate years.

 *John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 11 January**2024*