Albatross and plucky pilot birds of a feather

Newly named webcam albatross chick Amiria rests at Taiaroa Head. Photo / DoC

The name of the latest chick turning heads at the Royal Albatross Centre gives a Māori twist on an American aviator.

The name Amiria was announced yesterday by the Department of Conservation as the competition-winning name for the young bird nesting in front of the webcam at Taiaroa Head, on the Otago Peninsula.

Amiria a te reo is a transliteration of Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic.

DoC gave the public a theme of "female explorers" for naming suggestions, and the public voted on a chosen final list of five.

Amiria received 389 of the 1100 votes in the online competition.

One of those who suggested the name, Arianna Ponder, of Wellington, was randomly chosen as the competition winner and will be flown down to meet the chick.

Otago Peninsula Trust marketing manager Sophie Barker said the name was "a little more gracious" than her previous nickname Dora, after children's cartoon Dora the Explorer.

The bird is expected to leave the colony in September.

The competition has been run for three years. The first chick named, Moana, is expected to return in the next few years.