Humboldt Penguins, Islas Ballestas, Paracas, Peru

Image Author Lisa Weichel

Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

Humboldt penguins (Spheniscus humboldti) are sometimes known as Peruvian penguins. They are located only along the Pacific coastline of South America. They are warm weather penguins preferring islands or rocky shores to form breeding colonies on. They range from Isla Foca off the coast of Peru to Algarrobo in Chile and have remote colonies to the south on the Punihuil Islands.

Humboldt penguins are members of the Banded penguin group (Spheniscus genus) along with African, Magellanic, and Galapagos penguins. They are named after the Humboldt Current that brings nutrient rich cold water to the ocean along the Pacific coast of South America past Chile and Peru before turning westwards. Humboldts do not migrate preferring to stay in these regions all year round.

Description

Humboldts look very similar to Magellanic penguins and it is often the case that their colonies overlap and both birds can be wrongly identified very easily. There are differences that a practiced eye may spot. Humboldts have one neck band while Magellanics have two. Also adult Humboldts have a very dark brown-black head, face and back and white fronts. Their face has a white stripe running around the face, round behind the top of the eyes, down past the ear coverts and chin, joining on the throat. They are monomorphic with the male and female very similar in appearance and being difficult to tell apart. Often it is behavioural traits that reveal the gender of the two.

The Humboldt has stiff overlapping feathers that provide waterproofing and insulation to their bodies. Their eyesight is excellent on land and underwater. They are medium-sized penguins being larger than Little Blue penguins but smaller than King and Emperor penguins. They can be up to 28 inches high and weigh up to 11 pounds.

Hunting and Diet

Humboldt penguins are excellent swimmers and can reach speeds of up to 20 miles per hour. They use their wingers like flippers and steer with their tails and feet. They use their speed and manouverability make them formidable hunters.

Their diet consists of fish such as anchovies, herrings and crustaceans. Humboldts have a gland which gives them the ability to drink both fresh water and seawater.

Social Birds

Humboldt penguins are social birds forming large breeding colonies. They site their nesting burrows very close together which aids communication. They build their nests in burrows, caves, or niches in rocks and boulders and sometimes on rocky shores.

Parents are able to recognise each other and their chicks using a combination of voice and sight. Each penguin has a unique voice which helps breeding pairs recognise each other and also their chicks.
These close-knit colonies help to provide a collective defence against skuas and gulls and other threats. As well as providing a secure nesting place the burrows also give the penguins shelter from the weather.

Breeding

Humboldts begin to breed between the ages of two and seven years old. Depending on the availability of food Humboldts can breed at any time of the year. Females lay up to three eggs and both parents will take turns to incubate for about forty days. The chicks have greyish brown down when they are hatched.

Both parents take turns in caring for the chick and hunting for food. Eventually after about two months the parents will leave the chicks alone during the day while they go hunting. In times when food becomes scarce parents will feed the larger, stronger chick at the expense of the smaller ones.
After about seventy to ninety days the chicks will fledge, losing their down which will be replaced by grey feathers. These will gradually change to their adult plumage over time.

Predators and Threats

Humboldts are known to live up to around twenty years in the wild and up to 30 years in a zoo. Their total population is estimated to be about 6,000 pairs.

On land they are preyed on by foxes, wild dogs, and falcons such as caracaras. Gulls and skuas will kill chicks and steal eggs. In the sea they are preyed upon by toothed whales, fur seals and sharks.
Like other penguins they are vulnerable to changes in their ocean environment that may occur naturally such as the El Nino current which can have a devastating effect on their food chain.

Between 1982 -83, El Nino caused 65% decline in the Humboldt population. Although the population began to rise again it was badly depleted again in 1997-98 by another El Nino event.
They are also victims of human activity and their nests and eggs can be broken by humans gathering guano (droppings), which is used for fertiliser. This also causes damage to their breeding grounds.

Overfishing of their prey species is also a problem and they can also get caught up in fishing nets.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists them as Vulnerable A2bcde+3bcde+4bcde;C1+2b on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.