People from around the world can watch as a cahow chick hatches from its egg.

It is thought the bird could be fully hatched by tonight.

Dimples – small bumps or ripples in the surface of the egg – were first seen on the surface of the egg yesterday.

Nonsuch Expeditions team leader J-P Rouja added that he saw the first pip, or hole, this morning when the parent bird took a short break and uncovered the egg.

He added: “During another break at 3:24am, three pips were observed, which had then combined into a larger hole by 4:12am.

“By 5:46am the hole was even larger with peeps being heard from under the parent at 5:51am, but most likely still from inside the egg.”

He explained: “It can sometimes take up to 48 hours from the first pip until the chick manages to fully emerge by chipping away to make a large enough hole, or by connecting a series of pips into cracks around the larger end of the egg which is then pushed off.

“It seems that the still hatching chick and parent are currently resting, but Jeremy [Madeiros, the government conservation officer] is expecting that we will see more activity, and possibly the full hatching this afternoon and into this evening.”

The hatching chick is in the CahowCam 1 burrow and people can watch it via the Nonsuch Expeditions CahowCam live stream.