Taiaroa Head’s Royal Cam chick fledges with a tracker - and a name

 
Kaewa on 10 September, seven days before fledging, Royal Cam photograph

The Endangered Northern Royal Albatross Diomedea sanfordi chick of the 2024/25 breeding season that has been the subject of the 24-hour live-streaming “Royal Cam” at New Zealand’s mainland Taiaroa Head/Pukekura colony has fledged.  Named Kaewa, which means to adventure/travel or roam in Te Reo Māori, she has been fitted with a GPS satellite tracking device, along with a plastic Band Yellow E55 and a metal band R-65278 with a cable-tied Geolocation Sensor (GLS) on the opposite leg on 01 August.  Kaewa fledged on 17 September at 232 days of age (and a mass of 7.7 kg, up from 286 g at hatching).

“She’s on her massive round-the-world journey to the coast of South America, where she will live for a few years, before returning home to Pukekura/Taiaroa Head, via the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, to breed.  She's 500 km into her travels already, heading in a northeasterly direction toward Rēkohu/Chatham Islands”.  Follow her at-sea movements here.

A 2024/25 chick fledges on camera following extended hovering in a strong wind on 25 September

A total of 18 GPS trackers, nine on females and nine on males, has been attached to the back feathers of 2024/25 chicks.  On 30 September there were still eight chicks to take flight and fledge from the colony.

The Royal Cam live stream will be moved to a new location in November after the 2025/26 season's eggs have been laid by birds that are now returning to the colony.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 02 October 2025