New Zealand little owl visits albatross nest

This 9 April 2020 video says about itself:

(Full Visit!) A Little Owl Makes a Surprise Appearance on the #Royal [Albatross Nest] Cam

For the first time ever, a Little Owl flew into view of the infrared illuminator, alighting first on the ground near the nestling, then flying up to perch on the camera before flying again out of frame.

Little Owls were introduced to the South Island of New Zealand in the first decade of the 1900s with the goal of helping to control pest species. While they didn’t appear to have a large impact on pests, they also haven’t seemed to have a negative effect on native fauna, mainly eating insects (particularly beetles, also caterpillars, earwigs and moths); they also eat small mammals, small birds, lizards and frogs.

RoyalCam was set up in January 2016 by the Department of Conservation. For the 2019/2020 season, we have collaborated with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.