Royal Albatross ~ 💕 BANDING DAY For TF & TFT CHICKS With A GLS Tag Cable Attached! 💕 8.9.24

Today Rangers Sharyn & Julia and DOC team banded the chicks in the colony including Top Flat (TF) and Top Flat Track (TFT) chicks. Ranger Julia begins by picking up TF and taking him away from his new nesting spot to a different location so it would not imprint a stressful event in his nesting place of comfort. Ranger Sharyn will put on a stainless steel band with a GLS (Global Location Sensor) on his right leg. She will use a pair of banding pliers to attached the GLS tag cable as well. TF chick is 199 days old & TFT is 191 days old and was also banded with a stainless steel band and GLS tag. When they are finished banding TF, the rangers head over to TFT and band him as well. You can really see how big these chicks are now! Just like last season with Manaaki, this season 20 chicks at Pukekura have been tagged with a GLS (Global Location Sensor) data logger on a leg band. 10 females and 10 males will be chosen so that sex differences in foraging areas can be accounted for. The data will be collected for at least the first three years of the lives of these juveniles. We cannot use transmitting GPS* (Global Positioning System) tags for a project like this, as GPS tags mounted to back feathers are molted off the birds after a year. The data from the GLS tags will not be available online like transmitting tags, and only collected as the bird returns to the colony as an adolescent. The collected information will help us identify where these birds travel to during their first years at sea and assist in assessments of where they face different threats. The knowledge gained may also help our team advocate for toroa conservation internationally. This work underlines the importance of the small Pukekura/Taiaroa Head colony. It is easily accessed and consequently plays a key role in gathering information on Toroa and their conservation worldwide.💕 Thank you for watching! Video captured & edited by Lady Hawk ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Please join the official facebook group Royal Cam Albatross Group New Zealand for up to date information on the albatross family and to share information on albatross conservation, photos and comments!   / 991026361293354   Courtesy of Dept of Conservation Royal Cam, Royal Albatross Taiaroa Head, New Zealand Cam Link: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/cams/ro... DOC official website: https://www.doc.govt.nz/royalcam Royal Albatross Centre website: https://albatross.org.nz/ #TAIAROA HEAD #royalcam #albatross #NorthernRoyalAlbatross