Kaewa, The 2025 Royalcam chick.
Kaewa has crossed the Pacific Ocean | Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa and is now foraging in the Humboldt Current off the coast of Chile.
Te Poari a Pukekura, a joint trust made up of Te Rūnanga o Ōtākou members, Korako Karetai Trust, Dunedin City Council and DOC have gifted Signal Station Flat, the 2025 Royalcam chick, now a journeying juvenile the name Kaewa, meaning traveller/adventurer.
Kaewa has travelled over 10,000 km so far. As the juveniles are no longer migrating but foraging the movements are not so obvious on the map at this scale.
Background on data collection
All toroa at Pukekura have been banded with a uniquely numbered Stainless-Steel band since 1936. A colour combination for an alphanumeric band on the opposite leg means quicker identification.
Banding ensures that we will be able to recognise everyone in years to come and be able to collect lifespan and breeding success data.
Geo Positioning System (GPS) tags are attached to back feathers and will moult off. They send the data via satellite so it can be viewed without retrieving the tag.
Geo Location Sensors (GLS) are cable tied to the Stainless-Steel band have a long-life battery of over 3 years but must be retrieved from the bird to be able to download the data.
Past Royalcam family’s news
Read more about the Royalcam families here:
https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-a ... al-family/
The parents (LGK and LGL) of Karere,Tiaki and Kiwa are now on a fertile egg at Top Flat. YWK and KGY, Moana’s parents also have a fertile egg this season and Tūmanako’s dad BK and his new RLW also have a fertile egg.
GO and WO, the foster parents of 2018 chick Amīria are nesting but sadly their egg was found broken. They are on a dummy egg to hold them as potential foster parents.
Past Royalcam chicks that have returned to Pukekura are Moana,Tūmanako and Amīria.
Tūmanako, who fledged in 2017, returned at the end of 2021 and has been ‘keeping company’ with a 7-year-old female (i.e. serious about breeding).