Eudyptes chrysocome
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The southern rockhopper penguin group (''Eudyptes chrysocome''), is a
species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of
rockhopper penguin The rockhopper penguins are three closely related taxa of crested penguins that have been traditionally treated as a single species and are sometimes split into three species. Not all experts agree on the classification of these penguins. Some ...
, that is sometimes considered distinct from the
northern rockhopper penguin The northern rockhopper penguin, Moseley's rockhopper penguin, or Moseley's penguin (''Eudyptes moseleyi'') is a penguin species native to the southern Indian and Atlantic Oceans. It is described as distinct from the southern rockhopper penguin. ...
. It occurs in
subantarctic The sub-Antarctic zone is a region in the Southern Hemisphere, located immediately north of the Antarctic region. This translates roughly to a latitude of between 46° and 60° south of the Equator. The subantarctic region includes many islands ...
waters of the western Pacific and Indian Oceans, as well as around the southern coasts of South America.


Taxonomy

In 1743 the English naturalist George Edwards included an illustration and a description of the southern rockhopper penguin in the first volume of his ''A Natural History of Uncommon Birds''. Edwards based his hand-coloured etching on a preserved specimen owned by Peter Collinson. When in 1758 the Swedish naturalist
Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his Nobility#Ennoblement, ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalise ...
updated his '' Systema Naturae'' for the tenth edition, he placed the southern rockhopper penguin with the
red-billed tropicbird The red-billed tropicbird (''Phaethon aethereus'') is a tropicbird, one of three closely related species of seabird of tropical oceans. Superficially resembling a tern in appearance, it has mostly white plumage with some black markings on the wi ...
in the
genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
''
Phaethon Phaethon (; grc, Φαέθων, Phaéthōn, ), also spelled Phaëthon, was the son of the Oceanid Clymene and the sun-god Helios in Greek mythology. According to most authors, Phaethon is the son of Helios, and out of desire to have his par ...
''. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name ''Phaethon demersus'' and cited Edwards' work. The use of Linnaeus' binomial name was not adopted by later ornithologists, perhaps because he had already used the specific ''demersa'' for the African penguin which he placed with the
wandering albatross The wandering albatross, snowy albatross, white-winged albatross or goonie (''Diomedea exulans'') is a large seabird from the family Diomedeidae, which has a circumpolar range in the Southern Ocean. It was the last species of albatross to be desc ...
in the genus '' Diomedea''. The southern rockhopper penguin was formally described in 1781 by the German naturalist
Johann Reinhold Forster Johann Reinhold Forster (22 October 1729 – 9 December 1798) was a German Reformed (Calvinist) pastor and naturalist of partially Scottish descent who made contributions to the early ornithology of Europe and North America. He is best known ...
under the binomial name ''Aptenodytes chrysocome''. The species is now placed in the
genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
''
Eudyptes The term crested penguin is the common name given collectively to species of penguins of the genus ''Eudyptes''. The exact number of species in the genus varies between four and seven depending on the authority, and a Chatham Islands species beca ...
'' that was introduced by the French ornithologist
Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot Louis Pierre Vieillot (10 May 1748, Yvetot – 24 August 1830, Sotteville-lès-Rouen) was a French ornithologist. Vieillot is the author of the first scientific descriptions and Linnaean names of a number of birds, including species he collec ...
in 1816. The genus name combines the
Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...
''eu'' meaning "fine" with ''dyptes'' meaning "diver". The specific epithet ''chrysocome'' is from the
Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...
''khrusokomos'' meaning "golden-haired" (from ''khrusos'' meaning "gold" and ''komē'' meaning "hair"). Two subspecies are recognised: * ''E. c. filholi'' Hutton, FW, 1879 – Kerguelen Islands and subantarctic islands of New Zealand * ''E. c. chrysocome'' (Forster, JR, 1781) –
Cape Horn Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramí ...
to the
Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...
The rockhopper penguin complex is confusing. Many taxonomists consider all three rockhopper penguin forms subspecies. Some split the northern subspecies (''moseleyi'') from the southern forms (''chrysocome'' and ''filholi''). Still others consider all three distinct. The subspecies recognized for the southern rockhopper penguin complex are: * ''Eudyptes chrysocome chrysocome'', the western rockhopper penguin or American southern rockhopper penguin – breeds around the southern tip of South America. * ''Eudyptes chrysocome filholi'', the
eastern rockhopper penguin The eastern rockhopper penguin (''Eudyptes chrysocome filholi'') is a crested penguin with yellow crest feathers. It is a subspecies of the southern rockhopper penguin (''Eudyptes chrysocome'') found in subantarctic regions and the Indian Ocean. ...
or Indopacific southern rockhopper penguin – breeds on subantarctic islands of the Indian and western Pacific oceans. The
northern rockhopper penguin The northern rockhopper penguin, Moseley's rockhopper penguin, or Moseley's penguin (''Eudyptes moseleyi'') is a penguin species native to the southern Indian and Atlantic Oceans. It is described as distinct from the southern rockhopper penguin. ...
lives in a different water mass than the western and eastern rockhopper penguin, separated by the
Subtropical Front A subtropical front is a surface water mass boundary or front, which is a narrow zone of transition between air masses of contrasting density, air masses of different temperatures or different water vapour concentrates. It is also characterized by ...
, and they are genetically different. Therefore, northern birds are sometimes separated as ''E. moseleyi''. The rockhopper penguins are closely related to the
macaroni penguin The macaroni penguin (''Eudyptes chrysolophus'') is a species of penguin found from the Subantarctic to the Antarctic Peninsula. One of six species of crested penguin, it is very closely related to the royal penguin, and some authorities consid ...
(''E. chrysolophus'') and the royal penguin (''E. schlegeli''), which may just be a colour morph of the macaroni penguin.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.


Description

This is the smallest yellow-crested, black-and-white penguin in the genus ''Eudyptes''. It reaches a length of and typically weighs , although there are records of exceptionally large rockhoppers weighing . It has slate-grey upper parts and has straight, bright yellow eyebrows ending in long yellowish plumes projecting sideways behind a red eye.


Ecology

The southern rockhopper penguin group has 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 The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...
and on islands off
Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and g ...
. These include most significantly
Isla de los Estados Isla de los Estados (English: Staten Island, from the Dutch ''Stateneiland'') is an Argentine island that lies off the eastern extremity of Tierra del Fuego, from which it is separated by the Le Maire Strait. It was named after the Netherlands ...
, the
Ildefonso Islands Islas Ildefonso are a group of islands in Chile. The islands belong to the Commune of Cabo de Hornos in Antártica Chilena Province of Magallanes and Antártica Chilena Region. They lie west of Isla Hermite, part of Tierra del Fuego, and NNW ...
, the
Diego Ramírez Islands The Diego Ramírez Islands ( es, Islas Diego Ramírez) are a small group of subantarctic islands located in the southernmost extreme of Chile. History The islands were first sighted on 12 February 1619 by the Spanish Garcia de Nodal expedition, ...
and Isla Noir. ''E. c. filholi'' breeds on the
Prince Edward Islands The Prince Edward Islands are two small uninhabited islands in the sub-Antarctic Indian Ocean that are part of South Africa. The islands are named Marion Island (named after Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne, 1724–1772) and Prince Edward Island ...
, the Crozet Islands, the Kerguelen Islands,
Heard Island The Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HIMI) is an Australian external territory comprising a volcanic group of mostly barren Antarctic islands, about two-thirds of the way from Madagascar to Antarctica. The group's overall size ...
,
Macquarie Island Macquarie Island is an island in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, about halfway between New Zealand and Antarctica. Regionally part of Oceania and politically a part of Tasmania, Australia, since 1900, it became a Tasmanian State Reserve in 197 ...
, Campbell Island, the
Auckland Islands The Auckland Islands (Māori: ''Motu Maha'' "Many islands" or ''Maungahuka'' "Snowy mountains") are an archipelago of New Zealand, lying south of the South Island. The main Auckland Island, occupying , is surrounded by smaller Adams Islan ...
and the
Antipodes Islands The Antipodes Islands ( Maōri: Moutere Mahue; "Abandoned island") are inhospitable and uninhabited volcanic islands in subantarctic waters to the south of – and territorially part of – New Zealand. The 21 km2 archipelago lies 860  ...
. Outside the breeding season, the birds can be found roaming the waters offshore their colonies. BirdLife International (2008)
[2008_IUCN_Redlist_status_changes]
_Retrieved_May_23,_2008.
These_penguins_feed_on_krill.html" ;"title="008 IUCN Redlist status changes]">[2008 IUCN Redlist status changes]
Retrieved May 23, 2008.
These penguins feed on krill">008 IUCN Redlist status changes]">[2008 IUCN Redlist status changes]
Retrieved May 23, 2008.
These penguins feed on krill, squid, octopus, lantern fish, mollusks, 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.


Behaviour

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. This behaviour is by no means unique to this species however – at least the other "crested" penguins of the
genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
''
Eudyptes The term crested penguin is the common name given collectively to species of penguins of the genus ''Eudyptes''. The exact number of species in the genus varies between four and seven depending on the authority, and a Chatham Islands species beca ...
'' 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
whaler A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales. Terminology The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Japa ...
s since the Early Modern era. Hence, it is this particular species in which this behaviour 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. Two eggs are laid but only one is usually incubated. Incubation lasts 35 days and their chicks are brooded for 26 days.


Variation in foraging behaviour

Rockhopper penguins are known to have complex foraging behaviors. Influenced by factors such as sea ice abundance, prey availability, breeding stage, and seasonality, rockhopper penguins must be able to adapt their behavior to fit the current conditions. Rockhopper penguins employ different strategies according to their conditions. When making foraging trips, rockhoppers typically leave and return to their colonies in groups. One study showed they are known for going up to 157 km away from their colonies when foraging. Females typically forage during the day in 11-12h trips consisting of many dives, but they will occasionally forage at night. Night dives are typically much shallower than day dives. Dives typically last around 12h, but can be up to 15hrs, with penguins leaving the colony around dawn (04:00) and returning at dusk (19:00). Rockhopper penguins employ different strategies and foraging behaviors depending on the climate and environment. A main factor is food location. Subantarctic penguins must dive for longer periods of time and much deeper in search of food than do species in warmer waters where food is more easily accessible.


Benthic and pelagic dives

Rockhopper penguins are known to employ two different types of dives when foraging, pelagic and benthic dives. Pelagic dives are typically short and relatively shallow and used very frequently. Benthic dives are much deeper dives near the seafloor (up to 100 m deep) that typically last longer and have longer bottom time. Penguins performing benthic dives typically only perform a few depth wiggles at their maximum depth. at an average speed of range of . Although deeper dives tend to be a bit longer than shallow dives, foraging rockhoppers will minimize their travel time when performing benthic dives to gain maximum efficiency. Benthic dives in particular show a stronger correlation to full stomachs than pelagic dives. Emperor penguins,
gentoo penguin The gentoo penguin ( ) (''Pygoscelis papua'') is a penguin species (or possibly a species complex) in the genus ''Pygoscelis'', most closely related to the Adélie penguin (''P. adeliae'') and the chinstrap penguin (''P. antarcticus''). The ea ...
s,
yellow-eyed penguin The yellow-eyed penguin (''Megadyptes antipodes''), known also as hoiho or tarakaka, is a species of penguin endemic to New Zealand. Previously thought closely related to the little penguin (''Eudyptula minor''), molecular research has shown it ...
s and
king penguin The king penguin (''Aptenodytes patagonicus'') is the second largest species of penguin, smaller, but somewhat similar in appearance to the emperor penguin. There are two subspecies: ''A. p. patagonicus'' and ''A. p. halli''; ''patagonicus'' ...
s also use this deep-dive technique to obtain food. Prey availability is dependent on many factors, such as current climate and conditions of the area. Typically, females will bring back a majority of crustaceans and occasionally some fish for their young. The female's foraging success directly affects chick growth. If food is scarce, females are able to fast for very long periods of time and sometimes will only forage for the chick's benefit.


Dive limitations

Because foraging conditions and outcomes are so variable, several factors can limit foraging practices. The timing of breeding, incubation and brooding periods greatly affect foraging time, as females are unable to leave broods for long periods of time. Females during the brooding period will follow a much more fixed foraging schedule, leaving and returning to the colony at roughly the same time each day. When not in breeding season, females have much more variability in the length of foraging trips. If females have low energy levels because they are fasting while provisioning chicks, they may make several short foraging trips instead of one longer one. While benthic dives are efficient and favorable for rockhoppers, they present physiological limitations such as limits in lung capacity, which affects duration of dives. The longest aerobic dive rockhoppers can perform is about 110 seconds long, but dives can last upwards of 180–190 seconds.


Status and conservation

The southern rockhopper penguin group is classified as vulnerable by the IUCN. Its population has declined by about one-third in the last thirty years. BirdLife International (2008
Southern Rockhopper Penguin Species Factsheet
. Retrieved May 27, 2008.
This decline has earned them the classification of a vulnerable species by the IUCN. Threats to their population include commercial fishing and oil spills. With the approval of the
European Association of Zoos and Aquaria The European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA), is an organisation for the European zoo and aquarium community that links over 340 member organisations in 41 countries. EAZA membership is open to all zoos and aquaria across Europe that compl ...
(EAZA), Drusillas Park in East Sussex holds the studbook for rockhopper penguins in Europe. Zoo manager Sue Woodgate has specialist knowledge of the species, so the zoo is responsible for co-ordinating the movements of penguins within zoos in Europe to take part in breeding programmes and offer their advice and information about the species.Conservation at Drusillas Park
Conservation at Drusillas Park


Relationship with humans

Rockhopper penguins are the most familiar of the
crested penguin The term crested penguin is the common name given collectively to species of penguins of the genus ''Eudyptes''. The exact number of species in the genus varies between four and seven depending on the authority, and a Chatham Islands species beca ...
s 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
whaler A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales. Terminology The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Japa ...
s and other seafarers since at least the early 18th century. Almost all crested penguins depicted in movies, books and other media are ultimately based on ''Eudyptes chrysocome chrysocome''.


References


External links

* ARKive
images and movies of the rockhopper penguin, ''Eudyptes chrysocome''

70South: Info on rockhopper penguins


{{Taxonbar, from=Q688641
southern rockhopper penguin The southern rockhopper penguin group (''Eudyptes chrysocome''), is a species of rockhopper penguin, that is sometimes considered distinct from the northern rockhopper penguin. It occurs in subantarctic waters of the western Pacific and Indian ...
southern rockhopper penguin The southern rockhopper penguin group (''Eudyptes chrysocome''), is a species of rockhopper penguin, that is sometimes considered distinct from the northern rockhopper penguin. It occurs in subantarctic waters of the western Pacific and Indian ...
Flightless birds Birds of Tierra del Fuego Birds of the Falkland Islands Birds of islands of the Atlantic Ocean Birds of subantarctic islands Birds of the Indian Ocean Birds of the Southern Ocean Vulnerable fauna of Australia
southern rockhopper penguin The southern rockhopper penguin group (''Eudyptes chrysocome''), is a species of rockhopper penguin, that is sometimes considered distinct from the northern rockhopper penguin. It occurs in subantarctic waters of the western Pacific and Indian ...
southern rockhopper penguin The southern rockhopper penguin group (''Eudyptes chrysocome''), is a species of rockhopper penguin, that is sometimes considered distinct from the northern rockhopper penguin. It occurs in subantarctic waters of the western Pacific and Indian ...