Albatross Chicks Are Starting To Fledge. Tiaki Fledges!

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PinkDiamond
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Albatross Chicks Are Starting To Fledge. Tiaki Fledges!

Post by PinkDiamond »

From the Cornell Bird Lab Cams, the Northern Royal Albatross chick, Tiaki, who I have been watching since she cracked the shell and was too small to see unless her head was bobbing, is now HUGE, and she and her neighbors on the edge of the water are all about to fledge, with one of them leaving yesterday. So I was glad to get this newsletter today so I could see Tiaki's practice hovers, which I hadn't seen since I'm not actively watching the cam other than in spurts. I've been watching her just about every day so far this year, and she will be sorely missed once she takes flight and leaves for about 4 years. Here's what the newsletter said:
Albatross Chicks Are Starting To Fledge!

At long last, the time has come for the Royal Albatross chicks at Taiaroa Head Nature Reserve to fledge and begin their multiyear journey at sea. Star chick Tiaki has been busy practicing for take-off for the past couple of weeks, while several chicks (including Tiaki's next-door neighbor) have already left the headland on New Zealand's Otago Peninsula. Tune in live for a chance to see a young albatross take its first flight. Watch now. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/cams/royal-albatross/

From Land To Sea: Raising a Northern Royal Albatross chick takes a lot of work. By the time Tiaki takes flight, her parents LGL (female) and LGK (male) will have put a full year into raising their single chick. Successful breeders take a much-deserved year off to recoup at sea before returning to do it all over again, while new breeders are already arriving at the colony to prep for the upcoming breeding season.

Follow Tiaki's Voyage: Assuming all goes well, Tiaki will start a long trip to South American waters before returning home at about age four. But her Royal Cam story doesn't end here. We can follow her adventures thanks to a GPS tracker fitted to Tiaki's back by rangers from the New Zealand Department of Conservation. The solar-powered device will transmit valuable information about Tiaki's location after she fledges. It is very lightweight and will eventually fall off within a year once the bird molts her feathers.

Why are these GPS tags important? They are a crucial tool that can shape the conservation management of this endangered species! Changes in climate, prey location, and fishing activity are likely to affect Northern Royal Albatross, and obtaining data on their movements at sea is required to affect decision making in these areas.

We'd like to thank our partners at the New Zealand Department of Conservation for helping us share the lives of these magnificent ocean wanderers with the world! Be sure to follow updates from the cam on Twitter @RoyAlbatrossCam.

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Thanks to Tiaki's new GPS tracker, we'll be able to follow her on her journey after fledging. Stay up to date on Tiaki's whereabouts at sea via the same map that tracks LGK's location. Check out the map. https://my.wildlifecomputers.com/data/m ... 139976bcfe



Live long, and come back so we can watch you become a great mom like your mom when the time comes, Tiaki! :D
PinkDiamond
ISG Registered Gemologist


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PinkDiamond
Posts: 15409
Joined: Thu Jun 04, 2015 9:30 pm
Location: Ozark Mountains

Re: Albatross Chicks Are Starting To Fledge!

Post by PinkDiamond »

My baby girl albatross that I've been watching all these months spread those magnificent wings today and took flight for the first time, as did 2 other albies that were nearby, although her tracking data shows she's still in the area, likely below the hill she was on so she may come back up if I get lucky. Either way, may they all thrive and come back to breed and raise their own offspring for us to watch in years to come. Godspeed Tiaki. 8-)

Watch a Royal Albatross chick open up its wings and take off from the headland and out to sea on the morning of September 25! It's possible that the fledgling in this clip is Tiaki, the star chick from the Royal cam, based on recent data from her GPS tracker that confirms definite movement at sea. Two other chicks fledged along with Tiaki since the last check by rangers from the Department of Conservation. Tiaki was 244 days post-hatch at the time of her fledge. She will now spend the next 4-10 years at sea before returning to her breeding colony at Taiaroa Head Nature Reserve to attempt to find a mate and breed. Good luck out there, Tiaki. Thanks to Tiaki's GPS transmitter, we should be able to track her movements at sea. Fledglings may spend their first several hours preening at sea before they move one with their journey. Follow along with updates to her location at https://my.wildlifecomputers.com/data/m ... 139976bcfe . RoyalCam was set up in January 2016 by the Department of Conservation. For the 2020-21 season we have collaborated with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. To learn more while watching, view the cam at
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/cams/roya ... -306637205


You can skip to just after the 1 minute mark. Happy landings Tiaki!

PinkDiamond
ISG Registered Gemologist


· ´¨¨)) -:¦:-¸.·´ .·´¨¨))
((¸¸.·´ ..·´ There are miracles left for you to do .... -:¦:- -:¦:-
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´* It all begins inside of you. ;)
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