Albatross parents and chick.

Meet the Royal family

Introduction

Find out more about this year's royal albatross family and their predecessors.

This season's Royal Cam family

RLK/A85 and GLG (Signal Station Trig) 2024/25

glg-incubating-egg-390.jpg
GLG incubating an egg
Image: Jim Watts | DOC

Offspring

  • Egg laid: 11 November 2024
  • Female chick hatched: 28 January 2025

Male

  • Previously known as RLK (red/lime/black bands) but rebanded as A85 (black band)
  • Age: 12 years
  • Breeding since 2019

Female

  • Known as GLG (green/lime/green bands)
  • Age: 14 years
  • Breeding since 2019

Previous Royal Cam families

LGK and LGL (Top Flat) WYL and BOK (Top Flat Track) 2023/24

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LGK and LGL with Top Flat chick
Image:DOC

Top Flat

Kiwa (male chick, banded E24)

  • Egg laid: 7 November 2023
  • Hatched: 23 January 2024
  • Fledged: 23 September 2024

Female

  • Known as: LGL (Lime/Green/Lime bands)
  • Age: 15 years, hatched 2008
  • Breeding since: 2017/18

Male

  • Known as: LGK (Lime/Green/blacK bands)
  • Age: 12 years, hatched 2010
  • Breeding since: 2017/18

Family history to date

Following a failed egg in 2017 LGK and LGL have raised 3 Royalcam chicks, Karere and Tiaki and Kiwa.

Read about Tiaki. LGK, LGL and Tiaki were GPS tracked.

Albatross tracking map

Read about Karere.

LGK and LGL returned last season as expected following their year off after fledging Tiaki but unexpectedly did not lay an egg.

Bonus viewing of Top of Flat Track
WYL and BOK

Offspring

  • Egg laid: 14 November 2023
  • Male chick hatched: 31 January 2024
  • Banded E25

Female

  • Known as: BOK (Blue/Orange/blacK bands)
  • Age: 10 years, hatched 2013
  • Breeding since: 2022/23

Male

  • Known as: WYL (White/Yellow/Lime bands)
  • Age: 9 years, hatched 2014
  • Breeding since: 2022/23

Family History to Date

WYL and BOK were first time breeders during 2022/23 but their egg did not hatch.

GLY, L and Manaaki 2022/23


Royal albatross chick Manaaki has a GLS (Global Location Sensor) tag attached to one of his leg bands

GLY and L are new to the Royal Cam as a nesting pair but have each made guest appearances in front of the cam. GLY famously and rather unusually fed Karere during 2019. Spectacularly, this is quite likely L landing in front of Tiaki in 2019. Their chick was named Manaaki by public vote on World Albatross Day,19 June 2023.

Manaaki (male chick)

  • Laid: 4 November 2022 
  • Hatched: 20 January 2023 
  • Fledged: 16 September 2023 age 239 days

Female

  • Known as: L (Lime band, she has lost her Orange and Yellow bands)
  • Age: 13 years, hatched 2009
  • Breeding since: 2019

Male

  • Known as: GLY (Green/Lime/Yellow bands)
  • Age: 12 years, hatched 2010
  • Breeding since: 2019
  • His Dad is YWK so is a half sibling of Moana. 

Family history to date

This pair have been together since 2019. 22/23 is their third season breeding. They nested at South Plateau where Karere was raised. They have fledged one male (2019) and one female chick (2021). Their breeding attempts have been uneventful, and the male chick of 2019 was also fed by GLY after he fed Karere.

L returned to Pukekura during 2014 and GLY in 2015. They were both non-breeders looking for mates from 2016 to 2018.

OGK, YRK and Lilibet, 2021/22


See the moment the chick became the first to fledge from the headland in 2022

OGK and YRK have moved down the hill to Quarry Track since raising Atawhai at Top Flat in 2020. They are in view of the Richdale Observatory.

Lilibet (female chick named in honour of Queen Elizabeth II)

  • Laid: 9 November 2021
  • Hatched: 26 January 2022
  • Fledged: 3 September 2022, 220 days old

Female

  • Known as: YRK (yellow/red/black bands)
  • Age at time: 28 years, hatched 1994
  • Breeding since: 2006

Male

  • Known as: OGK (orange/green/black bands)
  • Age: 24 years, hatched 1998
  • Breeding since: 2006

Family history to date

This pair have been together since 2006. This was their eighth breeding attempt. They have now fledged six of their own chicks and one foster chick.

They have raised the foster chick after the egg they laid was broken during 2018. The first chick they raised is a breeding female and the natal mother of the 2018 Royalcam chick, Amīria. During 2021 their 2012 chick RLK (male) raised a chick known as SSTrig near the Royalcam chick, Tiaki.

LGK, LGL and Tiaki, 2021


Watch our highlights video for the 2021 season

LGK and LGL nested this season up the hill from their previous nests at Top Flat. The chick was named Tiaki by public vote on 11 May 2021.

Tiaki (female chick)

  • Laid: 7 November 2020
  • Hatched: 24 January 2021
  • Fledged 25 September 2021 (age: 244 days)

Female

  • Known as: LGL (lime/green/lime bands)
  • Age: 12 years, hatched 2008
  • Breeding since: 2017

Male

  • Known as: LGK (lime/green/black bands)
  • Age: 11 years, hatched 2009
  • Breeding since: 2017
  • His dad is GO, the foster dad of past Royal Cam chick, Amīria

Track the Royal family

You can see where Tiaki and her parents have been while they had trackers fitted. 

Albatross tracking map.

Family history to date

LGK and LGL have been together since 2017 and this is their third breeding attempt. Their latest egg hatched on the 24 January 2021.

The day after it was first laid, the egg weighed 424 g. We confirmed fertility on day 12 by candling, at which time the weight of the egg had dropped by 10 grams. The drop was a sign of a growing embryo inside the egg.

LGK and LGL’s first two nests were at South Plateau. The pair had a failed egg on their first attempt, then fledged a chick on their second. Their first chick was our Royal Cam chick for 2019, Karere. Read about Karere.

OGK, YRK and Atawhai, 2020


Watch our highlights video about Atawhai

Last season Royal Cam began a partnership with Cornell Bird Lab. We launched our new features including a trial of night vision and the ability to pan the camera.

Atawhai (female chick)

  • Laid: 14 November 2019
  • Hatched: 31 January 2020
  • Fledged 16 September 2020 at 230 days of age

Female

  • Known as: YRK (yellow/red/black bands)
  • Age at time: 26 years, hatched 1994
  • Breeding since: 2006

Male

  • Known as: OGK (orange/green/black bands)
  • Age at time: 22 years, hatched 1998
  • Breeding since: 2006

Family history to date

This pair have been together since 2006. This was their 7th breeding attempt.

Two years earlier they raised a foster chick after the egg they laid was broken. The first chick they raised is a breeding female and the natal mother of the 2018 Royalcam chick, Amīria. Two more of their off-spring are in varying stages of mate selection.

The nest was between the observatory and Signal Station at Top Flat Track placing the Royalcam higher up the hill than previous seasons. The egg was laid on 14 November 2019.

LGK, LGL and Karere, 2019

Karere 2019
Albatross chick, Karere
Image: DOC

 

Chick: Karere

  • Hatched: 24 January 2019
  • Fledged: 23 September 2019 at 243 days of age

Hear how to pronounce ‘Karere’ (MP4, 239K).

Female

  • Known as: LGL (lime/green/lime bands)
  • Age at time: 11 years, hatched 2008
  • Breeding since: 2017

Male

  • Known as: LGK (lime/green/black bands)
  • Age at time: 10 years, hatched 2009
  • Breeding since: 2017

Family history to date

This pair has been together since 2017 and this was their second breeding attempt following a failed egg on their first attempt.

LGK and LGL made their nest at South Plateau directly across from the observatory towards the Signal Station. The egg was laid on 6 November and was the ninth egg out of the 51 eggs to be laid during the 2018 and 2019 season.

GO, WO and Amīria, 2018

Albatross chick Amīria
Albatross chick Amīria
Image: DOC

Chick: Amīria

  • Laid: 5 November 2017
  • Hatched: 27 January 2018
  • Fostered: 7 March 2018
  • Fledged: 7 September 2018 at 229 days of age
  • Returned 12 December 2024 at 2517 days or 6 years of age
  • Banded YA43

Foster male: GO (green/orange bands)
Foster female: WO (white/orange bands)

Family history to date

The parents are each other's second mates. GO's first mate was BOB (blue, orange, blue) and WO's was OBR (orange, blue, red).

GO and BOB's first surviving chick was a breech hatch and the observatory closed for 2 days to minimise disturbance as the chick was in extremely poor condition. This chick was famously named Fred (because his life was hanging on by a thread) and survived! He even fledged a chick in 2017.

GO and WO's nest is about 20 m up the track from the 2016/17 webcam chick Tūmanako. They were seen nest building to the side of the camera view once Tūmanako had fledged.

The pair laid an egg at Top of Bluff Track on the 5 November 2017. Their egg died late in the incubation and they received a foster chick who had been deserted as an egg by her natal parents (GKY, male 11 yrs, and KBR, female 11 yrs).

BK, RBK and Tūmanako, 2017

Albatross chick Tumanoko
Albatross chick Tūmanako after "spilling"
Image: DOC

Chick: Tūmanako

  • Laid: 12 November 2016
  • Hatched: 28 January 2017
  • Named: 4 July 2017
  • Fledged: 28 September 2017 at 243 days of age
  • Returned: 19 December 2021 at 1803 days of age (approx. 5 years)
  • Banded ROR (Red, Orange, Red) 24 December 2021

Male: BK (blue/black bands)
Female: RBK (red/blue/black bands)

Family history to date

During a weigh in when Tūmanako was about two months old, he got quite agitated and as a defensive behaviour he 'spilled' on himself. Spilling is a defence mechanism where the chick ejects a smelly, sticky substance called ‘proventriculus oil’ when it feels threatened. You can see it on the chick's face.

When Tūmanako was just days old he became unwell and lost weight. He was much smaller than other chicks who hatched at the same time. So he was moved to a foster nest closer to our rangers office so they could closely monitor him.

Another chick was put in his place for BK and RBK to foster. When Tūmanako recovered, he swapped places with his parents foster chick. The foster chick could not be placed with its original parents, as they deserted it when the chick was still in its egg.

YWK, KGY and chick, 2017

Chick

Male: YWK (yellow/white/black bands)
Female: KGY (black/green/yellow bands)

YWK, KGY and Moana, 2016


Watch our highlights video on Moana's time on Royal Cam

Chick: Moana

  • Laid: 6 November 2015
  • Hatched: 18 January 2016
  • Named: 21 June 2016
  • Fledged: 6 September 2016
  • Confirmed returned on 15 January 2023 at 7 years old
  • Banded Yellow A55 on 15 December 2023

Male: YWK (yellow/white/black bands)
Female: KGY (black/green/yellow bands)

Family history to date

YWK and KGY both started breeding at 8 years of age but YWK is KGY’s second mate and KGY is YWK’s third mate. YWK has fledged 3 chicks with his first two mates before breeding with KGY.

YWK and KGY laid their egg on 6 November 2015. Their chick Moana began hatching on the 18 January 2016 and took three days to fully emerge.