The Royal Cam albatross and its chick. Photo: Department of Conservation / supplied
Hundreds of thousands of viewers have watched this year's Royal Cam albatross chick hatch on the Otago Peninsula.
Each year, a toroa pair is livestreamed as they go from nesting to fledging a chick at the albatross colony at Taiaroa Head.
Since 2016, Royal Cam has had more than 4.2 million viewers spanning 190 countries. It is run by the Department of Conservation (DOC) and Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
DOC said this year's Royal Cam chick hatched on Tuesday, weighing a healthy 300g.
Biodiversity Ranger Sharyn Broni said by Thursday morning, the chick had been fed three times and weighed in at 370g, which was a good weight increase.
Most of the northern royal albatross' estimated population of 17,000 was inaccessible to people, she said.
"This gives us a perfect opportunity for us to share their lives - and they live a long time and their breeding cycle is very long - to everyone who wants to watch around the world."
The royal cam livestream appeared to help people to become more engaged and aware of conservation and their plastics consumption, she said.
All chicks at the colony are hatched in incubators to prevent flystrike - when flies lay maggots on the chick or egg and the maggots start eating - before being returned to the nest.
"For the safety of the chicks, we take any egg which has pipped - or begun to hatch - to the artificial egg incubators, which protects them from flystrike," she said.
Nests and young chicks were treated to reduce the chance of flystrike, Broni said.
The first chick hatched last week, and she hoped it would be a good season - last season was particularly good.
"Once the chicks are back with their parents, rangers weigh them regularly to ensure they are putting on weight as expected and supplementary feeding may be required in some cases.
"Heat is managed through a sprinkler system which cools the nesting birds to protect them from the scorching temperatures."
"This is a critical time for us working at the colony as we manage potential issues such as flies and hot dry conditions, which are only likely to worsen through climate change."
Flystrike is when flies lay maggots in the egg or on the chick, which can be fatal.
"Once the chicks are back with their parents, rangers weigh them regularly to ensure they are putting on weight as expected and supplementary feeding may be required in some cases.
"Heat is managed through a sprinkler system which cools the nesting birds to protect them from the scorching temperatures."
Te Poari o Pukekura chairperson Nadia Wesley-Smith said the hatching of the Royal Cam chick was celebrated along with all hatchings that herald the coming season.
"The Royal Cam is a wonderful mechanism in which to raise awareness of the toroa and the conservation efforts that goes into the colony at Pukekura/Taiaroa Head."
