First chick makes warm entrance

It is too soon to tell if this year's first chick is male or female. Picture / Otago Daily Times

The first of this season's albatross chicks has hatched at the Taiaroa Head colony on the Otago Peninsula, weighing in at a fluffy 285g.

Albatross colony breeding programme head ranger Lyndon Perriman said the royal northern albatross chick was one of 12 eggs laid last November.

This season's total was down on last year, when 26 eggs were laid. Mr Perriman said fewer pairs had returned to the colony this season.

"Many returned without their partner. We can only assume they are dead. The birds are mainly monogamous, so when they lose a partner, it can take up to three years for them to find a new mate."

Mr Perriman said it was too early to tell the young bird's sex.

"Young sea birds look alike at this age of development so it's difficult to tell ... We won't be able to tell until about July."

Human contact with the nests was kept to a minimum but sometimes staff had to intervene, he said.

Increasing temperatures over the past 15 years meant flies were laying larvae in the small holes pecked in the shells of emerging albatross.

"The problem is becoming more common. Ground temperatures in the area can reach 45C and the smell of egg in the air attracts flies.

"We put mint in the nests to repel the flies and we make regular checks to make sure there are no maggots in the eggs."

Mr Perriman hoped the remaining 11 eggs would hatch over the next three weeks.

- OTAGO DAILY TIMES