The Fiordland penguin (''Eudyptes pachyrhynchus''), also known as the Fiordland crested penguin (in

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

, ''tawaki'' or pokotiwha), is a

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 ...

species

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. It currently breeds along the south-western coasts of

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

as well as on

Stewart Island/Rakiura Stewart Island ( mi, Rakiura, ' glowing skies', officially Stewart Island / Rakiura) is New Zealand's third-largest island, located south of the South Island, across the Foveaux Strait. It is a roughly triangular island with a total land ar ...

and its outlying islands. Because it originally ranged beyond

Fiordland Fiordland is a geographical region of New Zealand in the south-western corner of the South Island, comprising the westernmost third of Southland. Most of Fiordland is dominated by the steep sides of the snow-capped Southern Alps, deep lakes, ...

, it is sometimes referred to as the New Zealand crested penguin.

Taxonomy

The Fiordland crested penguin was described in 1845 by English zoologist

George Robert Gray George Robert Gray FRS (8 July 1808 – 6 May 1872) was an English zoologist and author, and head of the ornithological section of the British Museum, now the Natural History Museum, in London for forty-one years. He was the younger brother o ...

, its specific epithet derived 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 peri ...

''pachy-''/παχυ- "thick" and ''rhynchos''/ρύγχος "beak". It is one of six species in the genus ''Eudyptes'', the generic name derived from the Ancient Greek ''eu''/ευ "good" and ''dyptes''/δύπτης "diver".

Description

This species is a medium-sized, yellow-crested, black-and-white penguin, growing to approximately long and weighing on average , with a weight range of .''CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses'' by John B. Dunning Jr. (Editor). CRC Press (1992), . It has dark, bluish-grey upperparts with a darker head, and white underparts. Its broad, yellow eyebrow-stripe extends over the eye and drops down the neck. It can be distinguished from the similar

erect-crested penguin The erect-crested penguin (''Eudyptes sclateri'') is a penguin endemic to the New Zealand region and only breeds on the Bounty Islands, Bounty and Antipodes Islands. It has black upper parts, white underparts and a yellow eye stripe and crest. I ...

(''Eudyptes sclateri'') and

Snares penguin The Snares penguin (''Eudyptes robustus''), also known as the Snares crested penguin and the Snares Islands penguin, is a penguin from New Zealand. The species breeds on the Snares Islands, a group of islands off the southern coast of the South ...

(''Eudyptes robustus'') in having no bare skin around the base of its bill. Female Fiordland penguins lay a clutch of two eggs where the first-laid egg is much smaller than the second egg, generally hatches later, and shows higher mortality, demonstrating a brood reduction system that is unique from other avian groups.

Distribution and habitat

This penguin nests in colonies among tree roots and rocks in dense temperate coastal forest. It breeds along the shores in the West Coast of the South Island, south of about

Bruce Bay Bruce Bay is a bay and settlement in South Westland, New Zealand on the Tasman Sea. It is located on State Highway 6, northeast of Haast and southwest of Fox Glacier. The small settlement of Bruce Bay is located just south of the mouth of Mahit ...

and the Open Bay Islands, around

and

Foveaux Strait The Foveaux Strait, (, or , ) separates Stewart Island, New Zealand's third largest island, from the South Island. The strait is about 130 km long (from Ruapuke Island to Little Solander Island), and it widens (from 14 km at Ruapuk ...

, and on

and its outlying islands. Fossils of this species have been found as far north as the northern end of the South Island, and they probably once nested in the North Island as well. Their range drastically reduced by hunting in Polynesian times, and they are now only found in the least-populated part of New Zealand. The species is also present in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Diet

The main prey species reported are cephalopods (85%, mainly arrow squid, ''Nototodarus sloanii''), followed by crustaceans (13%, primarily

krill Krill are small crustaceans of the order Euphausiacea, and are found in all the world's oceans. The name "krill" comes from the Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in n ...

, ''

Nyctiphanes australis ''Nyctiphanes'' is a genus of krill, comprising four species with an anti-tropical distribution. Based on molecular phylogenetic analyses of the cytochrome oxidase gene and 16S ribosomal DNA, ''Nyctiphanes'' is believed to have evolved during ...

'') and fish (2%, mainly

red cod ''Pseudophycis'' is a genus of codlings of the family Moridae found around New Zealand and Southern Australia. Species The currently recognized species in this genus are: * '' Pseudophycis bachus'' ( J. R. Forster, 1801) (red codling) * ''Pseud ...

and hoki). However, the importance of cephalopods might be exaggerated. Prey taken seems to vary between Codfish Island and northern Fiordland.

Conservation

Fiordland crested penguins are classed as vulnerable to extinction by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

, and their status was changed from vulnerable to endangered by the

Department of Conservation An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment ...

in 2013. Surveys in the 1990s counted 2,500 pairs, though this was likely an underestimate; based on historic trends, the population is probably continuing to decline. The main threats are introduced predators such dogs, cats, rats, and especially

stoat The stoat (''Mustela erminea''), also known as the Eurasian ermine, Beringian ermine and ermine, is a mustelid native to Eurasia and the northern portions of North America. Because of its wide circumpolar distribution, it is listed as Least Conc ...

s. They are also vulnerable to human disturbance, fleeing nests and leaving chicks exposed to predators.

References

External links

State of Penguins: Fiordland penguin – detailed and current species account of ''(Eudyptes pachyrhynchus)''

The Tawaki Project - Current research project on Fiordland penguins

* ttp://www.penguinworld.com/types/fiordland.html Penguin World: Fiordland penguin
www.pinguins.info information about all species of penguins
*
Fiordland penguin - www.penguins.com.au
* Fiordland penguin discussed on RNZ ''Critter of the Week''
24 March 2017Fiordland Crested Penguin, New Zealand Birds Online
{{Taxonbar, from=Q622637 Eudyptes Penguins Birds of the South Island Fiordland Vulnerable fauna of Oceania Birds described in 1845 Taxa named by George Robert Gray Endemic birds of New Zealand