20 Jan 2021

Hatching season for Albatross at Taiaroa Head

From Summer Times, 9:30 am on 20 January 2021

The first egg has hatched at the Taiaroa Head Northern Royal Albatross Colony in Dunedin in what is on course to be the second best breeding season on record. It's an anxious time - once hatching starts the eggs are taken to nearby incubators because the chicks are vulnerable to flies.

Once again, fans from around the world are watching the Royal Couple whose lives are playing out - 24/7 - in front of a camera courtesy of the Cornell Lab organisation. 

Taiaroa Head is also home to the red billed gulls, Spoonbills and several species of shags, and to the Little Blue Penguins. 

DOC Wildlife Ranger Sharyn Broni has worked with Toroa for more than 20 years. She escorted Lynn Freeman around the colony before hatching started.