Page 27 - 2008 NZ SUB ANTARCTIC ISLANDS - SMARTPHONE

Now that the rigors of the hike are behind
us so to speak, it is appropriate to
rhapsodize on the splendors of the island.
The rata forest is an alien-appearing growth
to be sure. Slender and twisted, the trunks
grow about 15 feet high in search of the
sun that does not shine all that often down
here in the subantarctic. The foliage at the
top is both thin in terms of the tiny leaves
and scarce since the leafy component of the
trees is not fulsome at all. The trees seem
to strain to intertwine with one another
more than they struggle to reach the
canopy. The forest appears impenetrable
at first look because of this tangle of
trunks. However, we had to pierce through
the maze because the forest was to be our
best hope of seeing the yellow-eyed
penguins up close and with babies in their
nests. These birds are one of the few non-
colonial species of penguin in the world.
Instead of huddling close together in huge
rookeries, these penguins are solitary
except at breeding season and even then the
pair do not join others of their kind.
Instead, they seek shallow depressions,
burrows, or caves to deposit their eggs far
removed the other breeding pairs. Then like other birds both sexes tend the chicks alternately—
while one parent is at sea, the other sits the eggs and guards the chicks. They are also very
different from other penguins in that they are very quiet—no sitting around braying at one
another for these birds. They sit silently or walk without speaking back and forth to the sea.
Because of these traits, the yellow-eyes are much harder to find. Sight and sound do not help
locate the birds. And because they are not all bunched together, there is no characteristic guano
smell radiating out from their homes. So the sense of smell doesn’t help locate them either.

Knowing their habitats and habits is the key to finding them. Even armed with this knowledge
and led by birding experts, we located only one yellow-eye near a nest containing two chicks.
The nest was located deep in the rata forest we threaded our way through and it was no more
secure or secret than an overhanging bank of a dry watercourse. The parent bird was quite aware
of our presence as we gathered together in the very “huddling behavior” the birds scorn. Our
group crouched low, some even lying on the damp earth to get eye level pictures. It was dark
beneath the protecting bank and difficult to get good looks, much less photos, of the chicks but
we persevered for quite a long time. The parent bird was much easier to watch since it stood
around for quite a long time. Finally it must have decided that we were not a threat to the chicks
and it wandered off toward the sea (a very long way off)—or maybe it was trying the old “decoy”
trick of leading us away from the chicks. The twins were all covered in plushy gray down and
did not really venture out of their hideaway at all. The yellow-eyed penguin gets it name from a
very bright and obvious yellow eye encircled by pale yellow feathers that also wrap completely
around the back of his head.

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