Eastern rockhopper penguin | |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Sphenisciformes |
Family: | Spheniscidae |
Genus: | Eudyptes |
Species: | |
Subspecies: | E. c. filholi
|
Trinomial name | |
Eudyptes chrysocome filholi
Hutton, 1878
| |
Synonyms | |
Eudyptes filholi |
The eastern rockhopper penguin (Eudyptes chrysocome filholi), also known as the tawaki piki toka, is a crested penguin with yellow crest feathers. [1] It is a subspecies of the southern rockhopper penguin (Eudyptes chrysocome) found in subantarctic regions and the Indian Ocean. [1] It is one of the smallest crested penguins and has distinctive pink margins around its bill. [2]
The eastern rockhopper penguin is a small, crested penguin with a black back and throat, a white belly and pink feet. [1] This seabird measures approximately 45–55 cm in length, and weighs 2.2–4.3 kg. [3] It has a thin yellow stripe that stretches from its lower forehead, over its red eye and splits into crest feathers at the back of its head. [2] The crest feathers are composed of long, thin, spiky yellow feathers on either side of the penguin's head and they are joined by shorter black feathers. [2] Rockhopper penguins have an orange-brown bill and the eastern rockhopper penguin has distinctive pink margins around the bill. [1] Males and females differ in body size and size of their bill; [1] males are generally larger and have a thicker bill. [2]
Fledglings, which are around 65 days old, are bluish black all over and lack crest feathers. [1] They also have a smaller, thinner bill than juveniles and adults. [1] Juveniles, which are penguins aged 1 to 2 years old, are a black-brown color with a grey throat. [1] They develop a brown-orange bill that is darker than the adult coloring and have small yellow crest feathers. [1] Eastern rockhopper penguins molt and get their adult plumage at 2 years old. [1]
The rockhopper penguin can be divided into two species; the northern rockhopper penguin (Eudyptes moseleyiI) and the southern rockhopper penguin. [2] These populations differ in many ways including morphological, ecological and behavioural differences. [2] The northern rockhopper penguin is larger than its southern counterpart and has longer crest feathers. [4] Other morphological differences include different color patterns on the underside of their flipper and different size eyestripes. [4] They also exhibit different behavioural traits such as foraging in different water temperatures. [2] Two subspecies of the southern rockhopper penguin are recognized; the eastern and the western rockhopper penguin (Eudyptes chrysocome chrysocome). [2] These subspecies differ mainly in their distribution; the western species is found in Cape Horn, South America and the Falkland Islands while its eastern counterpart occupies the Southern Indian and Pacific Ocean. [2] The eastern rockhopper penguin can also be distinguished by its pink margins around the bill. [2]
The eastern rockhopper penguin is found in the southern Indian and Pacific ocean from Prince Edward Islands to the Antipodes Islands. [2] Rockhopper penguins, in general, occupied a circumpolar distribution in the arctic during breeding season. [1] Eastern rockhopper penguins breed in the Marion Islands, Macquarie island and subantarctic islands in New Zealand such as the Antipodes islands and Campbell island. [4] These penguins occupy a mainly marine pelagic habitat and only return to land to breed and moult. [1] They spend the winter months, approximately April to October, in the southern Indian Ocean foraging for food and can spend up to 6 months at sea. [1] They travel, on average, 2000 to 4000 km away from their breeding site during this winter period. [1] This species mainly forages in cool waters; ocean temperatures of less than 4.5 degrees Celsius. [5]
Eastern rockhopper penguins are surface nesters and will build their nest on slopes or rocky shores near the coastline. [2] Colonies will usually form on steep cliffs near the sea and can contain tens-of-thousands of nests. [1] Their nests are made of small pebbles and can occasionally contain some vegetation. [1] Some colonies have settled within grasslands such as tussock, however the soil often erodes down to rock with the accumulation of guano and trampling over a few decades. [1] Eastern rockhopper penguins are rarely found more than 200 meters away from the coastline, since it is ideal to remain near their food supply. [1]
Eastern rockhopper penguins use calls for parent-chick recognition when returning to the colony with food. [6] They also use a song for courtship that can be described as a short repeated rhythmic ascending song. [2] [7] The song of an adult rockhopper penguin can have 5-30 syllables with the first syllable the longest. [6] Their contact call used by chicks and adults is a very short shrill bark. [2]
Eastern rockhopper penguins feed on a variety of fish, crustaceans and cephalopods such as krill and squid. [8] Their diet can differ depending on where they are in their life cycle. [5] During their pre-moult season, eastern rockhopper penguins mainly consume crustaceans, while during the breeding period their diet heavily relies on euphausiids in the Marion islands. [5] Different breeding location will also impact their diet; chicks in the Campbell island were found to mainly consume dwarf cod. [9] Rockhopper penguins highly depend on a predictable food source near their nesting habitat to feed their chicks. [10] However, if necessary rockhopper penguins can forage up to 120 km away from their breeding grounds to find food for their chicks. [8]
They are diurnal divers; the majority of their foraging activity occurs during the day with the deepest dives occurring at sunrise. [11] When searching for food, they usually stay at a depth of 6m and dive down 30-50m in the water column to catch their prey. [11] They tend to forage in cool waters since they are most productive. [5] They also selected foraging areas with large generation of eddies currents. [5] This type of current supports high aggregations of prey species. [5]
The predators of the rockhopper penguin includes fur seals and sea lions. [3] As well, brown skuas (Stercorarius antarcticus) and northern giant petrel (Macronectes halli) prey on rockhopper penguin eggs and chicks. [3]
Breeding season starts in October for eastern rockhopper penguins; males return to the breeding colony first and the females follow shortly after. [1] Courtship begins between pairs and both sexes fast until the female lays the first eggs usually around the beginning of November. [1] After the eggs are laid, the male and female will share all the parental duties. [1] The first incubation period is shared and both parents will fast during this time, approximately 7 days. [11] After this, the female takes the first solo incubation shift while the male goes to forage at sea, this can last up to 3 weeks. [11] Once the male returns, he takes over incubation while the female forages for approximately 10 days, by the time she returns, the chicks have hatched. [11] After the chicks hatch, the male will guard the chicks and continue to fast while the female forages and returns with food for the chicks. [3] The chicks form creches when they are around 24 days old and during this time both parents foraged and return with food. [1] A creche is a common occurrence in bird species when the juveniles form protective groups to allow the parents to forage. [12] Parent penguins continue to feed chicks until they fledge around February [13] when they are approximately 65 days old. [1] Adult penguins will return to the breeding colony in April to moult before their winter at sea. [3]
The eastern rockhopper penguin is considered a vulnerable species due to rapid population declines. [13] This decrease in population is mostly seen in breeding regions since it is the easiest form of census. [3] Most research agrees that the decline in rockhopper penguins is due to low food availability and decrease in food quality driven by climate change. [1] [3] [13] Due to climate change, sea surface and ocean temperatures are changing and this effects the distribution of prey populations. [3] Rockhopper penguins, and many other species, are sensitive to changes in water temperature [13] and as a consequence, adult penguins must forage farther away from breeding colonies. [3] They often return with smaller amounts of food for their chicks which leads to a decrease in body mass. [3] Low food availability also has a large effect on penguin's moult period. [3] Moulting is a very energy demanding process and requires penguins have sufficient body mass. [3] Due to poor diet, there is an increase in mortality during the moulting season. [3] Low food quality and abundance in wintering regions have also led to an increase in adult mortality. [3] Climate change has additionally affected the amount and intensity of storms in breeding ranges. [13] Intensity of winds displace prey populations and reduce penguin foraging success. [13]
Morrison, K.W; Battley, P.F; Sagar, P.M (February 2015). "Population dynamics of Eastern Rockhopper Penguins on Campbell Island in relation to sea surface temperature 1942-2012: current warming hiatus pauses a long-term decline". Biodiversity Conservation. 38 (2): 163–177. Bibcode: 2015PoBio..38..163M. doi: 10.1007/s00300-014-1575-x. S2CID 253809686.
Eastern rockhopper penguin | |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Sphenisciformes |
Family: | Spheniscidae |
Genus: | Eudyptes |
Species: | |
Subspecies: | E. c. filholi
|
Trinomial name | |
Eudyptes chrysocome filholi
Hutton, 1878
| |
Synonyms | |
Eudyptes filholi |
The eastern rockhopper penguin (Eudyptes chrysocome filholi), also known as the tawaki piki toka, is a crested penguin with yellow crest feathers. [1] It is a subspecies of the southern rockhopper penguin (Eudyptes chrysocome) found in subantarctic regions and the Indian Ocean. [1] It is one of the smallest crested penguins and has distinctive pink margins around its bill. [2]
The eastern rockhopper penguin is a small, crested penguin with a black back and throat, a white belly and pink feet. [1] This seabird measures approximately 45–55 cm in length, and weighs 2.2–4.3 kg. [3] It has a thin yellow stripe that stretches from its lower forehead, over its red eye and splits into crest feathers at the back of its head. [2] The crest feathers are composed of long, thin, spiky yellow feathers on either side of the penguin's head and they are joined by shorter black feathers. [2] Rockhopper penguins have an orange-brown bill and the eastern rockhopper penguin has distinctive pink margins around the bill. [1] Males and females differ in body size and size of their bill; [1] males are generally larger and have a thicker bill. [2]
Fledglings, which are around 65 days old, are bluish black all over and lack crest feathers. [1] They also have a smaller, thinner bill than juveniles and adults. [1] Juveniles, which are penguins aged 1 to 2 years old, are a black-brown color with a grey throat. [1] They develop a brown-orange bill that is darker than the adult coloring and have small yellow crest feathers. [1] Eastern rockhopper penguins molt and get their adult plumage at 2 years old. [1]
The rockhopper penguin can be divided into two species; the northern rockhopper penguin (Eudyptes moseleyiI) and the southern rockhopper penguin. [2] These populations differ in many ways including morphological, ecological and behavioural differences. [2] The northern rockhopper penguin is larger than its southern counterpart and has longer crest feathers. [4] Other morphological differences include different color patterns on the underside of their flipper and different size eyestripes. [4] They also exhibit different behavioural traits such as foraging in different water temperatures. [2] Two subspecies of the southern rockhopper penguin are recognized; the eastern and the western rockhopper penguin (Eudyptes chrysocome chrysocome). [2] These subspecies differ mainly in their distribution; the western species is found in Cape Horn, South America and the Falkland Islands while its eastern counterpart occupies the Southern Indian and Pacific Ocean. [2] The eastern rockhopper penguin can also be distinguished by its pink margins around the bill. [2]
The eastern rockhopper penguin is found in the southern Indian and Pacific ocean from Prince Edward Islands to the Antipodes Islands. [2] Rockhopper penguins, in general, occupied a circumpolar distribution in the arctic during breeding season. [1] Eastern rockhopper penguins breed in the Marion Islands, Macquarie island and subantarctic islands in New Zealand such as the Antipodes islands and Campbell island. [4] These penguins occupy a mainly marine pelagic habitat and only return to land to breed and moult. [1] They spend the winter months, approximately April to October, in the southern Indian Ocean foraging for food and can spend up to 6 months at sea. [1] They travel, on average, 2000 to 4000 km away from their breeding site during this winter period. [1] This species mainly forages in cool waters; ocean temperatures of less than 4.5 degrees Celsius. [5]
Eastern rockhopper penguins are surface nesters and will build their nest on slopes or rocky shores near the coastline. [2] Colonies will usually form on steep cliffs near the sea and can contain tens-of-thousands of nests. [1] Their nests are made of small pebbles and can occasionally contain some vegetation. [1] Some colonies have settled within grasslands such as tussock, however the soil often erodes down to rock with the accumulation of guano and trampling over a few decades. [1] Eastern rockhopper penguins are rarely found more than 200 meters away from the coastline, since it is ideal to remain near their food supply. [1]
Eastern rockhopper penguins use calls for parent-chick recognition when returning to the colony with food. [6] They also use a song for courtship that can be described as a short repeated rhythmic ascending song. [2] [7] The song of an adult rockhopper penguin can have 5-30 syllables with the first syllable the longest. [6] Their contact call used by chicks and adults is a very short shrill bark. [2]
Eastern rockhopper penguins feed on a variety of fish, crustaceans and cephalopods such as krill and squid. [8] Their diet can differ depending on where they are in their life cycle. [5] During their pre-moult season, eastern rockhopper penguins mainly consume crustaceans, while during the breeding period their diet heavily relies on euphausiids in the Marion islands. [5] Different breeding location will also impact their diet; chicks in the Campbell island were found to mainly consume dwarf cod. [9] Rockhopper penguins highly depend on a predictable food source near their nesting habitat to feed their chicks. [10] However, if necessary rockhopper penguins can forage up to 120 km away from their breeding grounds to find food for their chicks. [8]
They are diurnal divers; the majority of their foraging activity occurs during the day with the deepest dives occurring at sunrise. [11] When searching for food, they usually stay at a depth of 6m and dive down 30-50m in the water column to catch their prey. [11] They tend to forage in cool waters since they are most productive. [5] They also selected foraging areas with large generation of eddies currents. [5] This type of current supports high aggregations of prey species. [5]
The predators of the rockhopper penguin includes fur seals and sea lions. [3] As well, brown skuas (Stercorarius antarcticus) and northern giant petrel (Macronectes halli) prey on rockhopper penguin eggs and chicks. [3]
Breeding season starts in October for eastern rockhopper penguins; males return to the breeding colony first and the females follow shortly after. [1] Courtship begins between pairs and both sexes fast until the female lays the first eggs usually around the beginning of November. [1] After the eggs are laid, the male and female will share all the parental duties. [1] The first incubation period is shared and both parents will fast during this time, approximately 7 days. [11] After this, the female takes the first solo incubation shift while the male goes to forage at sea, this can last up to 3 weeks. [11] Once the male returns, he takes over incubation while the female forages for approximately 10 days, by the time she returns, the chicks have hatched. [11] After the chicks hatch, the male will guard the chicks and continue to fast while the female forages and returns with food for the chicks. [3] The chicks form creches when they are around 24 days old and during this time both parents foraged and return with food. [1] A creche is a common occurrence in bird species when the juveniles form protective groups to allow the parents to forage. [12] Parent penguins continue to feed chicks until they fledge around February [13] when they are approximately 65 days old. [1] Adult penguins will return to the breeding colony in April to moult before their winter at sea. [3]
The eastern rockhopper penguin is considered a vulnerable species due to rapid population declines. [13] This decrease in population is mostly seen in breeding regions since it is the easiest form of census. [3] Most research agrees that the decline in rockhopper penguins is due to low food availability and decrease in food quality driven by climate change. [1] [3] [13] Due to climate change, sea surface and ocean temperatures are changing and this effects the distribution of prey populations. [3] Rockhopper penguins, and many other species, are sensitive to changes in water temperature [13] and as a consequence, adult penguins must forage farther away from breeding colonies. [3] They often return with smaller amounts of food for their chicks which leads to a decrease in body mass. [3] Low food availability also has a large effect on penguin's moult period. [3] Moulting is a very energy demanding process and requires penguins have sufficient body mass. [3] Due to poor diet, there is an increase in mortality during the moulting season. [3] Low food quality and abundance in wintering regions have also led to an increase in adult mortality. [3] Climate change has additionally affected the amount and intensity of storms in breeding ranges. [13] Intensity of winds displace prey populations and reduce penguin foraging success. [13]
Morrison, K.W; Battley, P.F; Sagar, P.M (February 2015). "Population dynamics of Eastern Rockhopper Penguins on Campbell Island in relation to sea surface temperature 1942-2012: current warming hiatus pauses a long-term decline". Biodiversity Conservation. 38 (2): 163–177. Bibcode: 2015PoBio..38..163M. doi: 10.1007/s00300-014-1575-x. S2CID 253809686.