---
title: "Best season yet. Taiaroa Head’s Northern Royal Albatross colony fledges 33 chicks"
---

# Best season yet. Taiaroa Head’s Northern Royal Albatross colony fledges 33 chicks

*![Manaaki 27 August 2023 Sharyn Broni](https://www.acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Albatrosses/N/Northern_Royal/Manaaki_27_August_2023_Sharyn_Broni.jpg)  
One of the 33: Manaaki, the 2022/23 Royal Cam chick, photograph by Sharyn Broni, Department of Conservation*

 All 33 chicks raised this season in New Zealand’s mainland colony 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* at [Pukekura/Taiaroa Head](https://www.acap.aq/news/news-archive/2013-news-archive/acap-breeding-sites-no-6-taiaroa-head-pukekura-new-zealand-an-albatross-colony-on-the-mainland) have now fledged from the headland and have begun life at sea for the next few years. All 33 chicks were [uniquely colour banded](https://www.acap.aq/latest-news/northern-royal-albatrosses-receive-alphanumeric-colour-bands-for-the-first-time-at-pukekura-tairaoa-head?highlight=WyJtYW5hYWtpIl0=).

 One of the chicks to fledge was [Manaaki](https://www.acap.aq/latest-news/manaaki-this-years-northern-royal-albatross-royal-cam-chick-has-fledged-leaving-regurgitated-plastic-behind?highlight=WyJtYW5hYWtpIl0=), the 2022/23 Royal Cam chick; a male which [received its bands](https://www.acap.aq/latest-news/the-latest-royal-cam-albatross-chick-gets-its-name-on-world-albatross-day?highlight=WyJtYW5hYWtpIl0=) on World Albatross Day on 19 June. Previously, the highest number of chicks fledging was from the 2020/2021 season with 30 chicks.  Watch a video of a 2022/23 chick close to fledging by  Laura Findlay [here](https://www.facebook.com/albatrosscentre/videos/688667523158012).

 *![Fledgling leaves](https://www.acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Albatrosses/N/Northern_Royal/Fledgling_leaves.jpg)  
Chocks away! A 2022/23 chick is about to fledge from Taiaroa Head*

 Meanwhile, birds of the new 2023/24 season have [started arriving](https://www.acap.aq/latest-news/we-hope-you-have-your-bells-ready-the-first-northern-royal-albatrosses-for-the-2023-24-season-return-to-taiaroa-head?highlight=WyJ0YWlhcm9hIiwidGFpYXJvYSdzIiwyMDIyXQ==) in the colony; eggs will be laid over November/December.  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, 05 October 2023*