Antarctic & Other Penguins Home Page
Penguin Food Chain
The Original Penguin - The Great Auk
Prehistoric Penguins
Emperor Penguins
King Penguins
Gentoo Penguins
Chinstrap Penguins
Adelie Penguins
Macaroni Penguins
Rockhopper Penguins
Royal Penguins
Yellow Eyed Penguins
Erect Crested Penguins
Snares Island Crested Penguins
Fiordland Crested Penguins
African Penguins
Magellanic Penguins
Humboldt Penguins
Galapagos Penguins
Little Blue Penguins
White Flippered Penguins
Penguins - Historic Glimpses
Penguin Art Gallery
Message Board
Guestbook
Mail Form
|
Yellow Eyed Penguins
 | Picture:An Illustration from the records of french explorer Dumont d'Urville. On the left a yellow eyed penguin, on the right an adelie penguin.
Yellow Eyed Penguins (megadyptes antipodes, the latin name means big diver)
The yellow-eyed penguin has a distinctive appearance quite different from other penguins, especially those in the New Zealand area where there are several types of crested penguins. It has a pale gray head and pale yellow eyes and is not crested though it has a cap of yellow gold feathers on its head. It has a white front starting from below the chin. It has a stripe of yellow feathers starting from its eyes and going round the back of its head. Its beak is grayish pink, tipped brown and its back is grayish charcoal. Its feet are pink. It is very timid and sensibly keeps well away from humans so it must be quite intelligent! It is about the size of a gentoo penguin, about 24 inches in height and it weighs about 6kg. It can live up to 22 years.
An excellent early depiction of the yellow-eyed penguin was given by the French explorer Dumont d’Urville in the reports of his voyage to the Antarctic, published 1842-1851. In these it was called a Corfou antipode. There may well be earlier reports from the biologists accompanying Capt James Cook in his voyages round New Zealand and Australia in the 18th Century. Some time I must try to find out.
|
|
A Highly Endangered Species
 | Picture:Dutch blue rabbits were introduced to provide food for humans on Enderby Island. However they were destroying the habitat of the penguins so they were being poisoned with something like warfarin. This poor little thing was dying. I just hoped the poison didn't affect other species.
The yellow-eyed penguin is seen round the East coast of the South Island of New Zealand and in the islands and seas surrounding it. For example they are seen on Enderby Island, Auckland Island, Stewart Island and Campbell Island.
They breed more on Enderby Island than anywhere else in the World. There its nests are well concealed in the dense rata forest or in caves. It is solitary and does not nest in big colonies.
It is one of the most endangered penguins with only about 3500 left in the world. This sad and tragic decline is due to loss of habitat, disturbance by humans and predation by introduced species like cats, ferrets, rats, stoats and dogs. When I was in New Zealand I was very impressed by the dedication of volunteers in their efforts to curb the damage from these species. At sea predators are seals and sharks and they often get caught in fishing nets.
|
|
A Penguin Hospital
 I visited the penguin hospital of the Hoi-Ho project near Dunedin on New Zealand’s South Island in 1993, where sick and lost penguins were rescued and brought to be nursed. |
Hoi-ho is the Maori Name
 | Hoi-ho is the Maori name for the yellow-eyed penguin meaning noisy shouter. At the Hoi-ho project I saw rescued king, erect crested, little blue and yellow-eyed penguins.
|
|
Secretive Penguins
 | | On Feb 22 1993 we landed in Sandy Bay on Enderby Island and were very lucky to see two yellow-eyed penguins well hidden in the undergrowth of the rata forest. |
|
Yellow-eyed Penguin Habitat
 | | The beautiful red flowering rata tree has the latin name Metrosideros umbellata. |
|
A Well Protected Home for Yellow Eyed Penguins
 | | The rata forest on Enderby Island I found weird, a little bit scary with its twisted trunks and contorted branches, as it reminded me of the forests in Grimms fairy tales or those Disney movies where the heroine is being chased through primeval forests where the trees are trying to grab her with branches as she runs by. Maybe a Harry Potter analogy is more appropriate nowadays. It was quite difficult to walk through it as you had to stoop low and kept being caught and entangled in the branches. Good fun though! |
|
Nests are Lined with Twigs
 They breed during the Southern summer season from the middle of August to the middle of March. In the breeding season they come ashore in the late afternoon to feed the chicks. Nests are shallow scrapes in the ground lined with twigs, grass and bits of vegetation. |
Nests Are Solitary
 Unlike other penguins they nest well apart from each other. Two eggs are laid, about 3 inches by 2 inches in size and unlike the crested penguins, both eggs usually hatch, in November. The eggs are green when first laid then change to white in the first day. Chicks have dark brown fluffy down. Both parents care for the eggs alternating with feeding at sea and the incubation period is about 45 days. |
Chicks Fledge February to March
 Once the chicks hatch one parent stays with the chicks while the other goes to sea to feed. Like other penguins chicks are fed with regurgitated partially digested stomach contents. The chicks fledge from mid February to mid march then the chicks are ready to go to sea on their own. |
Well Cared for Chicks
 Unlike the other penguins the yellow-eyed chicks stay with their parents and do not go into crèches. Unlike their parents, young birds have grey eyes and don’t acquire the yellow eyes and yellow bits on their heads till they are more mature. |
Moulting is Dangerous
 Once the chicks are independent the parents go into the annual moult. They moult in Feb to March for about a month during which time they lose up to 3-4 kg in body weight, are no longer waterproof and cannot go to sea to feed. Many die during this time. Like other penguins they find the moult enervating and during this time they become listless, less likely to panic and run away. From the point of view of threats from land predators this is a very dangerous time for them.
Yellow-eyed penguins eat small fish and squid, swimming up to 20 miles offshore to feed. They can dive down to 400 feet and stay down for over 4 minutes.
|
This page has been visited  times. |
