Western Rockhopper Penguin

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Western Rockhopper Penguin
Adult in the New Island (Falklands Islands) rookery
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Sphenisciformes
Family: Spheniscidae
Genus: Eudyptes
Species: E. chrysocome
Binomial name
Eudyptes chrysocome
(Forster, 1781)
Synonyms

Aptenodytes chrysocome Forster, 1781
Aptenodytes crestata J.F. Miller, 1784
Eudyptes crestatus (J.F. Miller, 1784)

The Western Rockhopper Penguin, Eudyptes chrysocome, is a species of rockhopper penguin. It occurs in subantarctic waters of the western Pacific and Indian Oceans, as well as around the southern coasts of South America.

Contents

[edit] Description

This is the smallest yellow-crested, black-and-white penguin in the genus Eudyptes. It reaches a length of 45-58 cm (18-23 in) and typically weighs 2-3.4 kg (4.4-7.5 lb), although there are records of exceptionally large rockhoppers weighing 5 kg (11 lbs).[1] It has slate-grey upper parts and a straight, bright yellow eyebrow ending in long yellowish plumes projecting sideways behind a red eye.[1]

[edit] Taxonomy and systematics

In the past, the three Rockhopper Penguin species were considered subspecies, but they are now considered full species. The subspecies recognized in the past were:

The Northern Rockhopper Penguins lives in a different water mass than the Western Rockhopper Penguin and Eastern Rockhopper Penguin, separated by the Subtropical Front and they are genetically different. Therefore, northern birds are now separated as E. moseleyi.

The rockhopper penguins are closely related to the Macaroni Penguin (E. chrysolophus) and the Royal Penguin (E. schlegeli), which may just be a color morph of the Macaroni Penguin.

Interbreeding with the Macaroni Penguin has been reported at Heard and Marion Islands, with three hybrids recorded there by a 1987-88 Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition.[2]

[edit] Distribution, ecology and status

Eudyptes chrysocome chrysocome colony on Saunders Island, Falkland Islands

Western Rockhopper Penguins have a global population of roughly 1 million pairs. About two-thirds of the global population belongs to E. c. chrysocome which breeds on the Falkland Islands and on islands off Argentina and southern Chile. These include most significantly Isla de los Estados, the Ildefonso Islands, the Diego Ramírez Islands and Isla Noir. E. c. filholi breeds on the Prince Edward Islands, the Crozet Islands, the Kerguelen Islands, Heard Island, Macquarie Island, Campbell Island, the Auckland Islands and the Antipodes Islands. Outside the breeding season, the birds can be found roaming the waters offshore their colonies.[3]

These penguins feed on krill, squid, octopus, lantern fish, molluscs, plankton, cuttlefish, and mainly crustaceans.

A rockhopper penguin named "Rocky" in Bergen Aquarium in Norway, lived to 29 years 4 months. It died in October 2003. This stands as the age record for rockhopper penguins, and possibly it was the oldest penguin known.[4]

The Western Rockhopper Penguin is classified as Vulnerable species by the IUCN. Its population has declined by about one-third in the last thirty years. However, the Northern Rockhopper's population is only a fraction of that of the Western Rockhopper Penguin, and consequently the status of the latter is unchanged by the taxonomic split.[5]

[edit] Behavior

Eudyptes chrysocome chrysocome on Saunders Island, Falkland Islands hopping over a crack.

Their common name refers to the fact that, unlike many other penguins which get around obstacles by sliding on their bellies or by awkward climbing using their flipper-like wings as aid, Rockhoppers will try to jump over boulders and across cracks.[1]

This behavior is by no means unique to this species however - at least the other "crested" penguins of the genus Eudyptes hop around rocks too. But the Rockhopper's congeners occur on remote islands in the New Zealand region, whereas the rockhopper penguins are found in places that were visited by explorers and whalers since the Early Modern era. Hence, it is this particular species in which this behavior was first noted.

Their breeding colonies are located from sea-level to cliff-tops and sometimes inland. Their breeding season starts in September and ends in November.[1] Two eggs are laid but only one is usually incubated.[1] Incubation lasts 35 days and their chicks are brooded for 26 days.

[edit] Rockhoppers in popular culture

Adult Eudyptes chrysocome chrysocome in the New Island (Falklands Islands) rookery

Rockhopper penguins are the most familiar of the crested penguins to the general public. Their breeding colonies, namely those around South America, today attract many tourists who enjoy watching the birds' antics. Historically, the same islands were popular stopover and replenishing sites for whalers and other seafarers since at least the early 18th century. It is hardly surprising that almost all crested penguins depicted in movies, books and so on are ultimately based on Eudyptes chrysocome chrysocome.

In film and video

In computer and video games

In music and literature

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d e Mary, Trewby (2002). Antarctica: an encyclopedia from Abbot Ice Shelf to Zooplankton. Auckland, New Zealand: Firefly Books. p. 152. ISBN 1-55297-590-8. 
  2. ^ Woehler EJ, Gilbert CA (1990). "Hybrid Rockhopper-Macaroni Penguins, interbreeding and mixed-species pairs at Heard and Marion Islands". Emu 90: 198-210. 
  3. ^ BLI (2008b)
  4. ^ Glenday (2008): p.136
  5. ^ BLI (2005, 2008a,b)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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