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Eudyptes chrysocomerockhopper penguin

By Devon Phelan

Ge­o­graphic Range

Rock­hop­per pen­guins are found on is­lands in the south­ern ocean, such as the Falk­land Is­lands. They occur far­ther north than many other pen­guin species.

Habi­tat

Rock­hop­per pen­guins are found in high grasses called tus­socks, where they make bur­rows and nest. As their name im­plies, they live on rocky shore­lines.

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

Rock­hop­per pen­guins mea­sure about 55 cen­time­ters in length and weigh around 2.5 kilo­grams. These birds stand up­right on two short feet. Their legs are set far back on the body. The wa­ter­proof coat, com­posed of feath­ers that av­er­age 2.9 cen­time­ters in length, is white on the un­der­side and bluish-black on the top. The head has bright yel­low plumage on the brow; the yel­low feath­ers ex­tend along the sides. The top of the head has spiked black feath­ers. The wings are strong, stiff, nar­row and flip­per-like. Rock­hop­per pen­guins have tiny eyes.

  • Sexual Dimorphism
  • sexes alike
  • Range mass
    2000 to 3000 g
    70.48 to 105.73 oz
  • Average length
    55 cm
    21.65 in

Re­pro­duc­tion

Mat­ing calls, which are species spe­cific, are called "ec­sta­tic vo­cal­iza­tion." This draws at­ten­tion to the bird and an­nounces its in­ten­tions. Pen­guins mate with the same part­ners from pre­vi­ous years. (Williams, 1981)

Rock­hop­per pen­guins typ­i­cally mate in the early spring or late sum­mer, en­abling the young to go to the sea in the mid-sum­mer. They mate in vast colonies and lay up to two eggs, al­though some­times pairs "adopt" a third egg. The first egg is usu­ally 20-50% smaller than sec­ond one. The small egg is usu­ally lost, al­though it is ca­pa­ble of ma­tur­ing into a nor­mal bird. Adopted eggs are also typ­i­cally lost. After each egg is laid, it is turned over to the male who sits on it and keeps it in his brood pouch for the next four months until it hatches. (Williams, 1981)

  • Breeding interval
    Rockhopper penguins breed once yearly.
  • Range eggs per season
    1 to 2

While the male pen­guin sits on the in­cu­bat­ing egg, he is nour­ished by the fe­male, or else he fasts for the en­tire pe­riod. If the fe­male does not re­turn with food for the chick once it has hatched, the male pro­duces "pen­guin's milk" from his di­ges­tive sys­tem and re­gur­gi­tates it for the baby.

  • Parental Investment
  • precocial
  • pre-fertilization
    • provisioning
    • protecting
      • female
  • pre-hatching/birth
    • protecting
      • male
  • pre-weaning/fledging
    • provisioning
      • male
      • female
    • protecting
      • male

Lifes­pan/Longevity

The av­er­age lifes­pan of a rock­hop­per pen­guin is 10 years.

  • Average lifespan
    Status: wild
    10 years

Be­hav­ior

Pen­guins are very so­cia­ble an­i­mals. It is very rare to see one alone. Rock­hop­per pen­guins are the most ag­gres­sive, as well as the most nu­mer­ous, pen­guins. They hide their heads under their wing while they rest. Rock­hop­per pen­guins leave the breed­ing colony in late sum­mer or fall and spend 3-5 months at sea, where they find food. Pen­guin wings are used ex­clu­sively for swim­ming, these sea birds do not fly.

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

Their loud cry, "ec­sta­tic vo­cal­iza­tion", is used to an­nounce their pres­ence, at­tract a mate, or an­nounce the bound­aries of their ter­ri­tory. As well as vo­cal­iz­ing, these birds shake their heads and cause their yel­low eye­brows to fly into a "halo" in order to at­tract a mate.

Food Habits

Rock­hop­per pen­guins eat pri­mar­ily krill (Eu­phau­si­acea). They also eat squid and other crus­taceans. They make daily trips to the sea to for­age.

  • Primary Diet
  • carnivore
    • eats non-insect arthropods
  • Animal Foods
  • fish
  • aquatic crustaceans

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Pos­i­tive

Pen­guins are a tourist at­trac­tion, and they are one of the main rea­sons peo­ple travel to the Falk­land Is­lands and other habi­tats of these pen­guins.

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

It is es­ti­mated that rock­hop­per pen­guins have un­der­gone a de­cline of more than 30% in their total pop­u­la­tion size over the past 30 years. For this rea­son, they are clas­si­fied as vul­ner­a­ble by the IUCN. If the de­cline con­tin­ues, they may be up­listed to en­dan­gered in the near fu­ture. Threats to rock­hop­per pen­guin pop­u­la­tions in­clude com­mer­cial fish­ing, which re­duces the amount of avail­able prey, and oil spills. (Bing­ham, 2002; BirdLife In­ter­na­tional, 2004; Ryan and Cooper, 1991)

Other Com­ments

Rock­hop­per pen­guins keep warm by their well-de­vel­oped fat layer and sys­tem for main­tain­ing heat.

Con­trib­u­tors

Tanya Dewey (ed­i­tor), An­i­mal Di­ver­sity Web.

Devon Phe­lan (au­thor), Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan-Ann Arbor.

Glossary

Atlantic Ocean

the body of water between Africa, Europe, the southern ocean (above 60 degrees south latitude), and the western hemisphere. It is the second largest ocean in the world after the Pacific Ocean.

World Map

Neotropical

living in the southern part of the New World. In other words, Central and South America.

World Map

acoustic

uses sound to communicate

bilateral symmetry

having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.

carnivore

an animal that mainly eats meat

chemical

uses smells or other chemicals to communicate

coastal

the nearshore aquatic habitats near a coast, or shoreline.

colonial

used loosely to describe any group of organisms living together or in close proximity to each other - for example nesting shorebirds that live in large colonies. More specifically refers to a group of organisms in which members act as specialized subunits (a continuous, modular society) - as in clonal organisms.

diurnal
  1. active during the day, 2. lasting for one day.
endothermic

animals that use metabolically generated heat to regulate body temperature independently of ambient temperature. Endothermy is a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in a (now extinct) synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not distinguish these possibilities. Convergent in birds.

iteroparous

offspring are produced in more than one group (litters, clutches, etc.) and across multiple seasons (or other periods hospitable to reproduction). Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons (or periodic condition changes).

monogamous

Having one mate at a time.

motile

having the capacity to move from one place to another.

natatorial

specialized for swimming

native range

the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.

oviparous

reproduction in which eggs are released by the female; development of offspring occurs outside the mother's body.

saltwater or marine

mainly lives in oceans, seas, or other bodies of salt water.

seasonal breeding

breeding is confined to a particular season

sexual

reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female

social

associates with others of its species; forms social groups.

tactile

uses touch to communicate

temperate

that region of the Earth between 23.5 degrees North and 60 degrees North (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle) and between 23.5 degrees South and 60 degrees South (between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle).

terrestrial

Living on the ground.

territorial

defends an area within the home range, occupied by a single animals or group of animals of the same species and held through overt defense, display, or advertisement

tropical savanna and grassland

A terrestrial biome. Savannas are grasslands with scattered individual trees that do not form a closed canopy. Extensive savannas are found in parts of subtropical and tropical Africa and South America, and in Australia.

savanna

A grassland with scattered trees or scattered clumps of trees, a type of community intermediate between grassland and forest. See also Tropical savanna and grassland biome.

temperate grassland

A terrestrial biome found in temperate latitudes (>23.5° N or S latitude). Vegetation is made up mostly of grasses, the height and species diversity of which depend largely on the amount of moisture available. Fire and grazing are important in the long-term maintenance of grasslands.

visual

uses sight to communicate

young precocial

young are relatively well-developed when born

Ref­er­ences

Gor­man, James. 1990. The Total Pen­guin. Pren­tice Hall Press, NY.

Grz­imek, Dr.​Dr.h.c. Bern­hard. 1972. Grz­imek's An­i­mal Life En­cy­clo­pe­dia. p.133-134. Van Norstrand Rein­hold Co. NY.

New Sci­en­tist. "Did Warm Water Kill Falk­land Pen­guins?" IPC Mag­a­zine Ltd. Vol. 114. May 28, 1987. p.22.

Bing­ham, M. 2002. The de­cline of Falk­land Is­lands pen­guins in the pres­ence of a com­mer­cial fish­ing in­dus­try. Re­vista Chilena de His­to­ria Nat­ural, 75(4): 805-818.

BirdLife In­ter­na­tional, 2004. "Eu­dyptes chryso­come" (On-line). 2004 IUCN Red List of Threat­ened Species. Ac­cessed No­vem­ber 14, 2005 at www.​redlist.​org.

Ryan, P., J. Cooper. 1991. Rock­hop­per pen­guins and other ma­rine life threat­ened by drift net fish­eries at Tris­tan da Cunha, South At­lantic Ocean. Oryx, 25(2): 76-79.

Williams, A. 1981. The clutch size of mac­a­roni pen­guins Eu­dyptes chrysolo­phus and rock­hop­per pen­guins Eu­dyptes chryso­come. Emu, 81(2): 87.

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Classification

  • Kingdom Animalia animals
  • Phylum Chordata chordates
  • Subphylum Vertebrata vertebrates
  • Class Aves birds
  • Order Sphenisciformes penguins
  • Family Spheniscidae penguins
  • Genus Eudyptes rockhopper, macaroni, and related penguins
  • Species Eudyptes chrysocome rockhopper penguin