- Eudyptes schlegeli
Identification
76cm. Light bluish-grey above and white below. Head pattern variable but head usually dark on crown and rear and white on forehead, cheeks, chin and throat. Golden-yellow superciliary crests meet on forehead and extend back over the eye to culminate in long drooping plumes behind the eye. Bill pale red-brown with fleshy margin at base, feet pinkish with black soles.
Distribution
Breeds only on Macquarie Island, Australia, but fairly regularly recorded on Campbell Island and on the southern coasts of South Island, New Zealand.
Taxonomy
This species is monotypic.[1] This may be a race or merely a colour phase of theMacaroni Penguin as birds resembling this form have been recorded in other Macaroni populations and intermediate birds occur at Macquarie. As for some other penguin species, Individuals of the two groups have been (rarely) known to interbreed.
Habitat
Breeds in large, densely-packed colonies on coastal terraces and some inland valleys on Macquarie Island.
Behaviour
Breeding: Colonial breeder on coastal terraces or along stream gullies. Nest made of small stones Eggs: two, pale bluish-white, but only one incubated, for about 35 days. Both sexes incubate for first 10 days, then female alone until shortly before hatching. The male then guards chick for 2-3 weeks after which young joins creche.
Diet: Crustaceans, small fish and squid.
References
- Clements, JF. 2007. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Royal Penguin. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 4 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Royal_Penguin
