The Royal Albatross Centre

The Royal Albatross Centre Your chance to visit the world’s only mainland breeding colony of Royal Albatross and the historic Fort Taiaroa and Armstrong Disappearing Gun.
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You will be in a sheltered observatory during the tours. The Royal Albatross Centre is owned and operated by a charitable trust, the Otago Peninsula Trust. All surplus funds generated by the enterprise are returned to projects which protect and enhance the environment and wildlife of Dunedin/Ōtepoti Otago Peninsula. The Northern Royal Albatross (Diomedea sanfordi) is just one of about 20+ species of bird and animal which makes its home on Otago Peninsula’s Taiaroa Head. Taiaroa Head has served as a defensive position from the beginning of human occupation around 700 years ago. Māori established a permanent settlement at Ōtākou and a fortified village (Pa) was built on Taiaroa Head. From early days of European settlement, an undergound tunnel system, fortifications and a Armstrong 6 inch disappearing gun, along side with other weapons, were built for the defense purpose against the Russian threat in 1885. The area was also active during WW1 & WW2.

It’s BELL RINGING TIME! 🥳🔔The first returning albatross for the new season has been sighted!YA50 (yellow alphanumeric ba...
23/09/2026

It’s BELL RINGING TIME! 🥳🔔

The first returning albatross for the new season has been sighted!

YA50 (yellow alphanumeric band A50) was seen on the headland by Department of Conservation ranger Scott.

A50 is 8 years of age and has arrived back from a winter off the coast of South America and has now returned to search for a mate and begin breeding. Welcome home to A50! 💛

The bells will ring at 1pm on Friday 25th September NZST and we’d love for lots of bell-ringers to help us celebrate!

We hope you’ll all join us in this wonderful tradition 🥰

📷 a group of excited young albies by Laura Findlay

Anyone know what this is? Here's a hint...🦑This is called a bolus and indicates that chicks are ready to fledge from the...
22/09/2026

Anyone know what this is? Here's a hint...🦑

This is called a bolus and indicates that chicks are ready to fledge from the headland!

It is all the indigestible items in the stomach of the albatross chicks that get regurgitated prior to their first flight. This makes them a little lighter and leaves extra room in their stomach for food, but it also gives us an idea of what their parents have been feeding them all winter.

In a healthy bird, this would consist of squid and octopus beaks (yep, they have beaks to eat their prey!) but you may notice a fragment or two that shouldn't be there...plastic that mum or dad mistakenly picked up at sea.

A good portion of the chicks at Pukekura have the odd piece of plastic in their bolus which shows how unavoidable plastic has become to these seabirds during foraging trips. It smells and looks similar to food so down it goes, then straight back up for their hungry chicks.

Luckily, this amount of plastic wouldn't tend to have huge detrimental effects, but when the amount builds up too much they end up starving. Help a bird out and be mindful of what you do with your plastic 💛

📷 photo by Leon Chu

There’s still time to vote Toroa ingoingo (Northern Royal Albatross) for your Bird of the Year 2026!Voting closes 5:00pm...
19/09/2026

There’s still time to vote Toroa ingoingo (Northern Royal Albatross) for your Bird of the Year 2026!

Voting closes 5:00pm September 20th NZST and can be done at www.birdoftheyear.org.nz, remember to verify your vote!

The only appropriate response to bird haters 😤Today is the second last day for voting in BOTY! If you have already voted...
18/09/2026

The only appropriate response to bird haters 😤

Today is the second last day for voting in BOTY!

If you have already voted, that’s great!
If you voted for seabirds, you’re amazing!
If you haven’t, there’s still time!

Please consider voting for seabirds, they deserve some attention! 🥺

Two days left to vote! 🗳️ We’d be stoked if black robin won so a new winner can be crowned, but we’d be ecstatic if toro...
17/09/2026

Two days left to vote! 🗳️

We’d be stoked if black robin won so a new winner can be crowned, but we’d be ecstatic if toroa was in the top five!

If you haven’t voted already, please consider choosing a bird that hasn’t won yet and give a new species some time in the limelight! 🤍

Don’t forget to verify your vote too!

The Royal Albatross Centre team wishes you all a wonderful Te Wiki o te Reo Māori (Māori Language Week) ❤️🖤🤍To celebrat...
15/09/2026

The Royal Albatross Centre team wishes you all a wonderful Te Wiki o te Reo Māori (Māori Language Week) ❤️🖤🤍

To celebrate, we’ve come up with some toroa-related kupu (words) for anybody wanting to learn some reo Māori!

This is what we’re all thinking when you catch us daydreaming…But seriously, WHY hasn’t toroa won BOTY yet!? What’s goin...
14/09/2026

This is what we’re all thinking when you catch us daydreaming…

But seriously, WHY hasn’t toroa won BOTY yet!? What’s going on? Since voting opened, countless people have said to us they can’t believe this iconic seabird has never been crowned, and there’s still time to change that!

If you haven’t already (or if you have but are willing to create additional email addresses 🥸) please VOTE TOROA and crown a new BOTY legend! 👑

So many wonderful seabirds to vote for in Forest & Bird Bird of the Year! With exception to hoiho and tara iti, none of ...
12/09/2026

So many wonderful seabirds to vote for in Forest & Bird Bird of the Year! With exception to hoiho and tara iti, none of them have won either 🥹

Help us usher in a new era of salty supremacy and vote Toroa ingoingo (Northern Royal Albatross) before the 20th September…

Vote at www.birdoftheyear.org.nz 🗳️

11/09/2026

We’re breaking out of eighth place 🎤 🎶

Vote Northern Royal Albatross for Bird of the Year 2026 before the 20th of September!

Go to www.birdoftheyear.org.nz and vote before you forget 🪿

Forest & Bird

10/09/2026

A chick was seen fledging today! 🤩

Some of our visitors were treated to the ultimate viewing today when a chick who was hovering in view of the observatory gained enough height to fledge from the headland! What a treat that we all get to see this ❣️

We couldn’t quite see the band number to determine who it was, but the yellow band colour tells us it was a female chick 💛

Good luck to her as she learns her new life at sea - hope to see her return in a few years!

🎥 thanks to Mark & Kerry Buchanan visiting from Australia for the video!

Address

1260 Harington Point Road Taiaroa Head
Dunedin
9077

Opening Hours

Monday 10:15am - 6:30pm
Tuesday 10:15am - 6:30pm
Wednesday 10:15am - 6:30pm
Thursday 10:15am - 6:30pm
Friday 10:15am - 6:30pm
Saturday 10:15am - 6:30pm
Sunday 10:15am - 6:30pm

Telephone

+6434780499

Website

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