Humboldt Penguin

Quick Take

• Humboldt penguins navigate the ocean in a way no other bird does, and their flippers have nothing to do with it.
• Their nesting material sounds disgusting, and it is disappearing fast. This rapid loss is pushing the species toward a dangerous tipping point.
• Ancient penguin ancestors once stood five feet tall and competed with whales, so the question remains: what shrunk them down and scattered them across the globe?
• These penguins mate for life, but their courtship ritual involves a surprisingly bizarre set of moves you wouldn't expect from a bird.

Capable of swimming up to 15 miles an hour, the Humboldt penguin is a remarkable bird. These penguins have a distinct black-and-white appearance with a black breast band. They live along the west coast of Chile and Peru near the Humboldt Current, for which they were named. Humboldt penguins are piscivores, a type of carnivore that eats fish.

Incredible Humboldt Penguin Facts

• Humboldt penguin chicks have brown feathers instead of the black feathers adults have.
• Unlike other birds that only use their feet as paddles, these penguins also use their feet to help them steer.
• Humboldt penguins have developed different calls to communicate. For example, they have a yell warning call if they feel threatened and a bray call to attract a mate.
• These penguins nest in guano, which is layers of bird poop.
• The oldest Humboldt penguin lived to be 36 years old.

Evolution

Fossil records indicate that Humboldt penguins’ common ancestors lived as long as 40 million years ago and were around six feet tall. They are believed to have originated in Antarctica, which was covered in forests at that time and connected to what would become New Zealand, Australia, South America, and surrounding islands. These ancient ancestors of penguins had diverged from the ancestors of petrels and albatrosses around 71 million years ago.

The onset of major Antarctic glaciation around 34 million years ago brought brutal changes to the ancient ancestors of the penguin. The continents of Australia and South America drifted away from Antarctica while ocean currents encircled it. This cooling climate likely killed off many ancient penguins, while survivors had to compete with whales for the same prey.

While most of the ancient penguins became extinct, others, like the Humboldt penguin, swam to warmer waters to establish new lineages. Species like the emperor penguin stayed in Antarctica and evolved adaptations suited to live in the cold environment.

Classification and Scientific Name

The scientific name for the bird is Spheniscus humboldti. Spheniscus is derived from the Greek word sphēniskos, meaning small wedge. This word refers to the shape of a penguin’s body. Humboldti refers to Alexander von Humboldt, a German naturalist and explorer, after whom the sea current where the penguins live on South America’s west coast was also named.

Appearance and Behavior

Like other penguins, they are black and white. This is one of the adaptations that help penguins camouflage and stay protected from their predators. Their heads have a white stripe that runs horizontally from above each eye to around their ears. The stripes from both sides of their head meet at their throat. Adult birds have a black breast band with a white belly. They also have splotches of pink on their feet, face, and beneath their wings.

These penguins also have three layers of overlapping short feathers and a thick layer of fat that work together to keep them dry and warm. These are other adaptations that have helped the Humboldt penguins to survive in their habitat.

Young penguins differ in appearance from their adult counterparts in that they are brown instead of black and do not have a breast band. The Magellanic Penguin is very similar in appearance to these birds, but they have two black breast bands instead of just one.

The adult penguins are about 26 inches long and weigh about 9 pounds, slightly less than the average weight of a domestic cat. The female penguins are typically a little smaller than their male counterparts.

Humboldt penguins are very social and prefer to be with others. They live in small groups known as rookeries.

Habitat

Humboldt penguins live in the coastal areas of Peru and Chile. They can be found on rocky shores or on the islands in the area. Since they feed on fish in the Humboldt Current, they choose areas to live that are near this current.

Diet

The food of choice for a Humboldt Penguin is anchoveta, a small fish. In addition to anchoveta, they also eat sardines, krill, and squid.

Predators and Threats

Unfortunately, these penguins face many predators and threats. They are a favorite food of sea lions, leopard seals, fur seals, killer whales, and great white sharks. Humboldt penguin eggs are often eaten by snakes, foxes, and birds.

In addition to predators in nature, humans also pose a threat to these penguins. Commercial fishermen fish in the areas where the penguins live, which reduces the number of fish that are available for the penguins. Humboldt penguins also die when they get tangled up in fishing nets. Humans also threaten their habitat when they harvest guano deposits to use for fertilizer. These penguins choose to nest in the guano deposits, so as the resources are depleted, fewer areas are available for them to nest.

Climate change also threatens these birds. Rising ocean temperatures have started to decrease the amount of fish available in the Humboldt Current.

Because of all the threats that Humboldt penguins face, they are at risk of extinction. Their current conservation status is Vulnerable.

Reproduction, Babies, and Lifespan

Humboldt penguins find a lifelong mate, like other penguins. During courtship, these penguins bow their heads and use alternating eyes to exchange glances with penguins of the opposite sex. They stretch their heads up, flap their wings, and let out a loud call to try to attract a partner.

The male and female penguins work together to dig their burrow in dried bird poop called guano. Each female lays two eggs at a time. The peak months for laying eggs are April and August through September. The eggs take about 40 days to incubate. During the incubation period, both the male and female penguins take turns sitting on the eggs.

When baby penguins are born, they have grayish-brown feathers. At around 70 to 90 days old, the baby penguins molt. At this time, their brown baby feathers are replaced with gray adult feathers. However, the young penguins still will not get their black breast band until they become adults.

Until they have their adult feathers, the penguin chicks are unable to maintain their body temperature. They need to stay in their nest to keep warm, and their parents feed them by regurgitating food. One parent will stay with the chicks at the nest to keep them safe. After the chicks molt and get their adult feathers, they are able to leave the nest and begin looking for their own food.

Once Humboldt penguins reach sexual maturity, between 2 and 7 years old, they are considered adults. At this time, they return to the rookery to look for a mate.

The lifespan for most Humboldt penguins is about 20 years. However, some of these penguins in captivity can live as long as 30 years. The oldest one lived to be 36. Her name was Emmanuelle, and she lived at the Akron Zoo in Ohio.

Population

Currently, there are only about 23,800 mature Humboldt penguins left in the wild. About 4,000 pairs are located in Peru, and about 8,000 pairs are located in Chile. This penguin population is declining due to the threats they face from humans and predators in nature. These penguins have been given a vulnerable conservation status due to their declining population.

In the Zoo

If you want to see these penguins in person, there are many zoos in the United States where you can do so. Some of these include the Saint Louis Zoo, Denver Zoo, Oregon Zoo, Akron Zoo, and Philadelphia Zoo