Crested Penguin

Quick Take

• These penguins lay two eggs every year, but there's a built-in reason why only one chick is ever meant to survive. See the egg-laying dynamics →
• Despite looking peaceful, crested penguins engage in brutal annual fights, and the trigger is not what you would expect. Discover the mating fights →
• Crested penguins share an ancestor with a completely different type of seabird, and losing one ability is what made them extraordinary. Explore their seabird origins →
• With only 25,000 pairs left, one specific scenario could collapse this entire population almost overnight. See the population threats →

The Snares crested penguin lives in the waters off the subantarctic Snares Islands, located south of New Zealand, where it eats krill and other aquatic prey. This penguin is one of eight different species that live in the general area. The crested penguin is gray, yellow, black, and white. It lives for 15 to 20 years in the wild.

Incredible Crested Penguin Facts

• The penguin eats krill, young squid, and other small animals that live in the water.
• It lives only on one island, near New Zealand.
• The crested penguin lays two eggs per clutch each year, though typically only one chick survives to fledging.
• They are preyed upon by New Zealand sea lions, New Zealand fur seals, and leopard seals, as well as aerial predators such as skuas and petrels.
• These penguins live freely in various zoos in places such as Antwerp and Paradisio.

Evolution and Origins

Evidence from both mitochondrial and nuclear DNA indicates that the crested penguins diverged from their closest living relative, the yellow-eyed penguin, during the mid-Miocene period, approximately 15 million years ago.

Subsequently, they underwent further speciation and separated into distinct species around 8 million years ago, specifically during the late Miocene.

According to the researchers, penguins originated from a common ancestor they share with a group of seabirds consisting of albatrosses and petrels.

Initially, penguins acquired the ability to dive, similar to puffins, and gradually lost their capacity for flight as they adapted to an aquatic habitat, evolving into exceptional swimmers and divers.

Classification and Scientific Name

The scientific name of the crested penguin is Eudyptes robustus. The name Eudyptes is based on the Greek words that mean “good diver.” The word robustus relates to how the penguins live, in a strong and robust manner. They are hardy and are able to live on their own in all kinds of environments, though they pair together to raise their chicks.

Appearance

The crested penguin is a medium-sized bird that has a bright yellow eyebrow-stripe that begins at the base of the bill, extends over the eye, and droops to form a bushy crest at the rear of its head. This is the same in both sexes. Other than that, while the sexes are very similar, the males tend to be slightly larger and have heavier bills.

The birds both have bright red eyes, but the eyes are not as red as those of the rock jumper penguin. Young birds tend to have less prominent markings, with a pale chin and a short crest. Both adults and juveniles have characteristic white stripes on the cheeks and a bare white-pink stripe around the base of the beak.

Behavior

Although crested penguins seem very peaceful, they get into fights every year due to the need for new mates, both for young penguins to find a mate and for old ones who need a new mate. In these fights, the bird is grabbed by the neck and beaten with the wings of the grabbing bird.

The crested penguin can make a number of vocalizations, ranging from hissing and explosive cries to rhythmical trumpeting and braying sounds that carry for a long distance when they are at sea. Despite all of this activity, much of the time these birds are indeed peaceful and well-behaved. The birds are not looking for a fight, and generally, they will settle down once the period of fighting is over.

Habitat

The crested penguin lives in the sea and on land, depending on which part of the season it is in. Not much is known about the habitat of the penguin during the non-nesting season, though they have been seen on land in Tasmania, New Zealand, and other places.

For the most part, these penguins nest in dense colonies on coastal rocks or under the tree cover of the Olearia forests. In these places, the penguins dig shallow holes and layer the bottom with grass, twigs, leaves, pebbles, or peat. They will then add a rim of mud to raise the level of the nest above ground level.

Once they have moved in, the vegetation will die due to the heavy nesting activities, at which time the colony will move to a new nesting site. Colonies that nest near a stream may have an advantage over others because of the presence of water for drinking and bathing, but this isn’t necessary, and many nesting colonies are located far from the water.

Diet

The diet of the Snares crested penguins is not well known, but it is assumed that they eat mostly krill, along with an equal portion of squid and small fish. Where and how they catch this food is not well known, but it appears to occur opportunistically while swimming in the ocean. They don’t appear to eat any other food items.

Predators and Threats

Crested penguins are preyed upon by a variety of large hunters, including New Zealand sea lions, New Zealand fur seals, and leopard seals. Their babies and eggs are threatened by petrels and skuas. They are not threatened by humans nor by any other known predators. They are protected by the government of New Zealand as part of efforts to keep the population thriving and healthy.

Reproduction, Babies, and Lifespan

Snares crested penguins are able to breed when they are between five and nine years old. They start in early September and will breed sometime between then and January. When they breed, the males will stand upright and flap their wings in an effort to attract a mate.

Crested penguins typically mate for life, so once they have found a reliable partner, they will normally remain together for the rest of their lives. They meet up every year at the breeding place for penguins, and once they get together, they will be faithful to one another until they meet the following year again.

Once they have mated, the penguins will build their nests in the existing burrows in the rocks, then decorate them with whatever soft materials they can find. They use this nest to lay their eggs in, about one to three weeks after they breed. The first egg will be much smaller than the second egg and will likely not hatch. If it does, it is unlikely to survive.

Once both eggs have been laid, the parents will incubate them alternately for the first 10 days, then the male leaves to forage for the next 12 days to search for food. When he comes back, the roles are reversed, and the female goes foraging while the male sits on the eggs.

After the egg hatches, the male guards the chick for the first three weeks, protecting the chick against all intruders while the female goes out and brings back food for the chick. Eventually, the chick will be guarded and fed by both parents. After the chick grows and molts, at about 11 weeks, the chick will be introduced to the water and left to make it on its own. Once the bird is on its own, it can live 15 to 20 years, taking time to breed once it reaches between 5 and 9 years old.

Population

The group currently consists of about 25,000 pairs. They appear to be holding steady at that number, or even growing slightly. However, it would not take much to decimate them if a disease outbreak or other catastrophic event were to occur, and for this reason, they are currently listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. At this point, the penguin population could continue to grow, or it could shrink, depending on how the penguins fare over the next few years.

Potential threats include the introduction of a new predator, overfishing around the islands that could deplete their food source, pollution, or increasing water temperatures that drive prey away from the islands. For these reasons, the New Zealand government has taken action to protect the marine feeding grounds and the Snares Island habitats in order to safeguard these birds.