Snares Penguins - Author lin padgham

Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

The Snares penguin (Eudyptes robustus), sometimes called the Snares Island, and Snares-crested penguin is a non-migratory, aquatic, flightless bird. It only lives on the secluded Snare Islands off the southern coast of New Zealand. There they inhabit the Olearia forest areas that run down to the sea and sheltered beaches. They fish and hunt in the surrounding sea.

They are one of the crested penguins group (Genus Eudyptes), along with Macaroni, Rockhopper, Fiordland, Erect-crested and Royal penguins all of which are considered vulnerable species. There are only estimated to be about 25,000 pairs and because of their low numbers and limited living and breeding areas they are very vulnerable to natural events and human activity.

The New Zealand government has made Snares Island a marine sanctuary and has made efforts to protect the surrounding seas. Human activity is restricted on Snares Island.

Description

Snares penguins grow to about 20 inches tall and weigh around 7 pounds. They are not as sizable as Emperor or King penguins but bigger than Little Blue penguins.

From their bill runs a yellow stripe that that runs across the top of each eye like an eyebrow culminating in a spiky yellow crest that flares out both sides of their head. Their bills are a reddish color and their heads, faces and backs are blue-black. They have white fronts and pinkish colored feet.

They look very similar to other crested species of penguins especially in the water. The Fiordland has white feathers on its cheek which are absent from the Snares penguin and the crest on the Snares is not as erect as those of the Erect-crested penguins. It is also difficult to tell the male from the female physically and they are considered as monomorphic with behaviour patterns providing the best clues to gender.

Hunting and Diet

Like all penguin species, Snares penguins are excellent swimmers. They use their webbed feet and powerful flippers to propel them through the seas at up to 15 mile per hour. Their diet consists of fish, squid and krill which they catch using shallow pursuit diving techniques.

Breeding

The early summer is the start of the breeding season and they can be aggressive towards one another, fighting and competing for territory and nesting materials. Breeding pairs scratch out hollows on the floor Olearia forests or amid shady vegetation and also in niches on rocky coastlines.
The pair will line the hollow with wood, pebbles, and peat nesting in crowded colonies. Clearings are often created in the forests because of the amount of guano the penguins leave. The penguins will then form colonies in other areas giving the forest a chance to rejuvenate.

The female lays two eggs which are incubated for between 31 and 73 days. Both male and female share the duty in shifts. One egg alone usually hatches and although both eggs may sometimes hatch only one chick usually survives.

The male will stay and take care of the chick for about three weeks while the female hunts. The chicks will join nursery groups for protection while both parents hunt feeding them regularly until they moult when they are about 75 days old. Then they will be ready to hunt in the sea for themselves.

Predators and Threats

Their main threat on land comes from sea birds such as skuas and petrels that kill their chicks and steal their eggs. In the sea are preyed on by Leopard seals and Hooker's sea lions.
Snares Island is kept completely free of introduced land animals as they could devastate the local penguin population. It is a World Heritage Site and can only be visited with a permit. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has classed Snares penguins as 'Vulnerable D2 ver 3.1' on its Red List of Threatened Species.