Lesbian albatrosses are new moms

A lesbian royal albatross couple - on the Otago Peninsula of New Zealand - have become proud parents.

The chick, which hatched last week, is one of 17 birds born this year in the South Island - the only mainland breeding colony of the endangered animal in the world.

A spokesman from the Department of Conservation, Robin Thomas, said while same-sex pairings have occurred before, it's "not common".

"One of them obviously mated so their egg was fertile," Mr Thomas said.

"Only one egg was laid and that's now hatched."

He said the female birds shared time on the egg and that the baby, which struggled for the first 24 hours, was now doing well.

The local tourism bureau, Tourism Dunedin, has put out the call for suggestions of what to name the new addition.