Page 30 - 2008 NZ SUB ANTARCTIC ISLANDS - SMARTPHONE

This penguin is fairly small reaching 25 to
28 inches in height and weighing from 5 to 8
lbs. The males are slightly larger than the
females and their robust red bills are heavier
than those of the females. Both sexes sport
the characteristic sulphur-yellow feathers
starting over the eyes like a brow and
culminating in a droopy, bushy crest. They
are blue black on their upperparts and white
on the underparts. They are quite comical in
these formal feathers as they waddle
about—really just like all the other
penguins.

It is interesting to learn that all the crested
penguin species populations in the world
are faring much better than the other
types. Their numbers are large and stable.
They regularly breed, nest and fledge their
chicks successfully. At this point, the
ornithologists who study penguins have no
generally acceptable explanation for this
phenomenon. The cresteds live in most of
the same places that other penguins
occupy so it would seem that food supply
wouldn’t explain it, nor would predation,
or habitat loss. The crested penguins all
breed in the subantarctic islands and a few other isolated spots. Some rockhoppers breed on the
Antarctic Peninsula, and the Fiordland breeds on the extreme south of the South Island as well as
on some nearby islands.

All these breeds are colonial and fiercely territorial. They mate for life and always return to their
own “hatching” place. They are all characterized by the flashy yellow or orange crests on the
sides of their heads. Some of these jaunty feathers are erect, some droopy, others swept back
from the eyes, but all are pronounced and amusing. Their bills are also red or orange and their
eyes are red or red-brown. These birds spend half of the year at sea and the other half tending
their reproductive responsibilities on land and then about month later coming back for the annual
molt they must undergo along with all species of penguins. They are long-lived and usually do
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not begin to breed until their 5 year of life. Two eggs are laid but usually only the second ever
hatches. If the first does happen to hatch, it usually dies within a week of that event. Both sexes
feed the chick but rather oddly in that they do not feed one another even though each sits for long
periods with the eggs and the newly hatched checks without food for itself. After about 4-5
weeks of being fed at the nest, all the chicks in the colony come together to form a crèche
(nursery) where they live about 2-3 weeks being fed by their own parents only.

In size, the cresteds range from the Macaronis who are the largest at 28” and 10-15 lbs. down to
the Rockhoppers who are only 20 inches and weigh no more than 5-6 lbs. Snares and Fjordlands
are 22” high and weigh 5-6 lbs. We did not see the Royal (28” but only 9-11 lbs) or the Erect
Crested (26” and 8-10 lbs.) since we did not visit the islands on which they nest.

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