Oh mummy, mummy - albatross chick hatches

Same sex parents at New Zealand’s royal albatross colony successfully hatched their first chick on Monday (1.02.10).

The unusual pairing of two females incubated the egg on the Otago Peninsula - near Dunedin, in the South Island - the only mainland breeding colony in the southern hemisphere for these majestic endangered sea birds.

The fluffy new arrival is one of 17 royal albatross chicks hatched this breeding season at the Taiaroa Head royal albatross colony.

There were 17 eggs and this marked the first time in 16 years that the colony had achieved a 100 percent success rate.

Taiaroa Head, on the tip of the peninsula, is a nature reserve but it’s early days to be counting the eggs - or chicks in this case - according to Department of Conservation (DOC) ranger Lyndon Perriman.

The 17 chicks would need to cope with heat, humidity, and the risks of fly strike and predators over the next month, Perriman said.

Hatching process
During the past two weeks, the royal albatross chicks have been going through the three to six-day process of hatching out of their shells.

The albatross parents will now take turns guarding and feeding the chicks for the next six weeks. The growing chicks will then be left unattended while both parents forage at sea for food to feed them.

DOC rangers have worked long hours over the past two weeks checking the chicks several times a day to watch for fly strike and ensure they were adequately fed during the critical first 48 hours after cracking the shell.

"We’ve built up our experience of helping chicks hatch and have tweaked our management techniques over the years. Cooler weather at the start of hatching also helped," Lyndon said.

Unusual pairings
The colony has two unusual pairings this season - the female pair, and another pair with one parent from the Taiaroa colony and the other from the Chatham Islands colony, 750km east of New Zealand.

The latter pairing is especially important for the Taiaroa colony as it provides an opportunity to widen its genetic pool.

The same sex parents have attracted considerable media attention.

Suggestions for the chick’s name were collected by Tourism Dunedin and will be forwarded to DOC for consideration. Suggestions included Lady Gagabatross, Lesley, Dixie, Ellen, Pika and Cuco.

Visitors to the Royal Albatross Centre have been asking to see the pair and their chick.

The centre, on the Otago Peninsula near Dunedin, runs guided tours where visitors learn about the breeding process. Visitors on the Monarch Wildlife Cruise see the birds soar above open ocean using their three-metre wing span to reach speeds of up to 115kph.

More information:

Name search for NZ same sex couple's chick

Taiaroa Head - home of the royal albatross