Animal Diversity Web

Ge­o­graphic Range

Sphenis­cus de­mer­sus, com­monly known as African, black-footed, or jack­ass pen­guin, is the only pen­guin species found on the African con­ti­nent. This species in­hab­its the Benguela and west­ern Ag­ul­has ecosys­tems of south­ern Africa. African pen­guins form colonies near a chain of is­lands be­tween Hol­lams­bird Is­land, Namibia, and Bird Is­land in Algoa Bay, South Africa. (Craw­ford, et al., 2001; Frost, et al., 1976)

• Biogeographic Regions
• ethiopian
  • native

Habi­tat

African pen­guins live in large colonies on rocky coast­lines of south­west Africa. They can swim up to 20 kph and can travel 30 to 70 km dur­ing each trip. They spend the night gath­ered to­gether on shore and much of the day feed­ing in the water. (Craw­ford, et al., 2006; Heath and Ran­dall, 1989)

• Habitat Regions
• temperate
• terrestrial

• Aquatic Biomes
• coastal

• Range depth

  130 (high) m

  426.51 (high) ft

• Average depth

  30-60 m

  ft

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

Adults stand around 45 cm tall and weigh an av­er­age of 3.1 kg. African pen­guins have black plumage on the back and white feath­ers with black mark­ings on the chest and belly. The white and black plumage serves as cam­ou­flage to preda­tors, with the white ap­pear­ing to aquatic preda­tors from below and the black ap­pear­ing to aer­ial preda­tors from above. They also have a horse­shoe-shaped white band that goes around the eye from the chin to­wards the beak. Ad­di­tion­ally, a horse­shoe-shaped band of black goes across their chest. Ju­ve­niles have gray-blue feath­ers that darken to black with age. The change from ju­ve­nile plumage to adult plumage takes around 3 years. (Cooper, 1977; Ste­foff, 2005)

African pen­guins re­sem­ble their close rel­a­tives, other species in the genus Sphenis­cus, in­clud­ing Gala­pa­gos pen­guins of the Pa­cific Ocean and Hum­boldt pen­guins and Mag­el­lanic pen­guins of South Amer­ica. The 4 Sphenis­cus species share size and plumage char­ac­ter­is­tics. (Cooper, 1977; Ste­foff, 2005)

• Other Physical Features
• endothermic
• homoiothermic
• bilateral symmetry

• Sexual Dimorphism
• sexes alike

• Average mass

  3.1 kg

  6.83 lb

• Average length

  45 cm

  17.72 in

Re­pro­duc­tion

African pen­guins are monog­a­mous. Dur­ing breed­ing, male and fe­male pen­guins are most dis­tin­guish­able from one an­other due to the pat­tern of col­ors. African pen­guins dig shal­low bur­rows under rocks, in sand or under sparse veg­e­ta­tion. They gather in breed­ing areas called 'rook­eries' from Sep­tem­ber to Feb­ru­ary, where they lay two eggs. African pen­guin courtship rit­u­als typ­i­cally begin with the male pro­ject­ing vi­sual and au­di­tory dis­plays to at­tract a mate. Head-swing­ing mo­tions usu­ally refer to own­er­ship of nest site, at­tract­ing fe­males, and/or used as a warn­ing for other males. The next stage is used to en­sure a mu­tual bond is formed; which in­volves a harsh vocal call re­leased while ex­tend­ing the neck and head up­ward. The final stage in­cludes bow­ing, where one or both pen­guins duck the head while the bill points at the nest or at the other bird's feet. (Shan­non and Craw­ford, 1999)

• Mating System
• monogamous

African pen­guin pairs re­turn to the same breed­ing sites year after year. Al­though breed­ing takes place through­out the year, nest­ing peaks in Namibia from No­vem­ber to De­cem­ber and in South Africa from March until May. Fe­males typ­i­cally lay two eggs, which are then in­cu­bated by both par­ents for about 40 days. All pen­guins have a patch of bare skin at the base of their bel­lies, called a "brood patch”, that helps the par­ent pro­vide di­rect heat to in­cu­bate the eggs. (Cooper, 1977; Craw­ford, et al., 2006; Craw­ford, et al., 2008; Shan­non and Craw­ford, 1999)

• Key Reproductive Features
• iteroparous
• seasonal breeding
• gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
• sexual
• oviparous

• Breeding interval

  African penguins breed once yearly.

• Breeding season

  Breeding occurs in Namibia from November to December and in South Africa from March until May.

• Average eggs per season

  2

• Average time to hatching

  40 days

• Range fledging age

  60 to 130 days

• Average time to independence

  80 days

• Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)

  4 years

• Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)

  5 years

After the eggs hatch, the pair feeds their young for about one month by re­gur­gi­tat­ing food into the hatch­ling's mouth. Hatch­lings are then left alone in crèches, or groups, a char­ac­ter­is­tic com­mon to bird species that breed in large colonies, while their par­ents for­age for food. Young leave the colony once they de­velop their ju­ve­nile plumage in 2 to 4 months. (Cooper, 1977; Craw­ford, et al., 2006; Craw­ford, et al., 2008; Shan­non and Craw­ford, 1999)

• Parental Investment
• altricial
• male parental care
• female parental care
• pre-fertilization
  • provisioning
  • protecting
    • male
    • female
• pre-hatching/birth
  • provisioning
    • female
  • protecting
    • male
    • female
• pre-weaning/fledging
  • provisioning
    • male
    • female
  • protecting
    • male
    • female

Lifes­pan/Longevity

The av­er­age lifes­pan of Sphenis­cus de­mer­sus is 10 to 27 years in the wild, whereas an African pen­guin liv­ing in cap­tiv­ity gen­er­ally has a longer lifes­pan. Other pen­guin species live for 15 to 20 years. Lim­its to aging are pre­da­tion, human im­pact, and storm sys­tems. (Craw­ford, et al., 2001; Shan­non and Craw­ford, 1999; Whit­ting­ton, et al., 2000)

• Range lifespan
  Status: wild

  27 (high) years

• Range lifespan
  Status: captivity

  25 (high) years

• Typical lifespan
  Status: wild

  10 to 15 years

Be­hav­ior

Al­lo­preen­ing (preen­ing each other) can com­monly be ob­served in Sphenis­cus de­mer­sus. This is prac­ti­cal, be­cause pen­guins can­not eas­ily preen their own heads and necks. If they are by them­selves, they have to use their feet to preen their heads. Al­lo­preen­ing al­lows for clean­ing and re­ar­rang­ing of feath­ers and aids in the re­moval of par­a­sites such as ticks. African pen­guins often bathe within a few me­ters of the shore­line. They shake their bod­ies around wildly and preen them­selves with their beak and feet. On warmer days, African pen­guins may dive into the water to keep cool. Fight­ing oc­curs oc­ca­sion­ally and in­volves the beat­ing of wings and bit­ing. African pen­guins have been ob­served chas­ing through colonies clutch­ing an op­pos­ing pen­guin’s back with their beaks while beat­ing the pen­guin with its wings. (Craw­ford, et al., 2001; Craw­ford, et al., 2006; Craw­ford, et al., 2008; Frost, et al., 2009; Frost, et al., 1976)

• Key Behaviors
• terricolous
• natatorial
• diurnal
• motile
• sedentary
• territorial
• social
• colonial

Home Range

The dis­tance that African pen­guins have to travel to find food varies, both tem­po­rally and spa­tially. On the west coast a typ­i­cal for­ag­ing trip could range from 30 to 70 km for a sin­gle trip. On the south coast, for­ag­ing birds cover an av­er­age of 110 km per trip. (Craw­ford, et al., 2008)

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

African pen­guins are also called jack­ass pen­guins be­cause they emit a loud, bray­ing, don­key-like call to com­mu­ni­cate. There are three types of calls used: bray, yell, and haw. The yell, or con­tact call, is used to de­fend a ter­ri­tory from an­other colony mem­ber. The bray, or dis­play call, is used to at­tract mates and is used be­tween part­ners in a colony. Pen­guins also per­form dis­plays that are used to es­tab­lish nest­ing areas, help with part­ner/hatch­ling recog­ni­tion and de­fense against in­trud­ers. The haw is used by part­ners when one is on land and the other is in the water. (Cun­ning­ham, et al., 2008; Frost, et al., 2009; Thumser and Ficken, 1998)

• Communication Channels
• visual
• acoustic
• chemical

• Perception Channels
• visual
• tactile
• acoustic
• chemical

Food Habits

African pen­guins feed pri­mar­ily on shoal­ing pelagic fish such as an­chovies (En­graulis en­cra­si­co­lus), pilchards (Sardinops sagax), horse mack­erel (Tra­chu­rus capen­sis), and round her­rings (Etrumeus teres), sup­ple­mented by squid and crus­taceans. When on the hunt for prey, African gen­guins can reach a top speed of close to 20 km/h. The dis­tance that African pen­guins have to travel to find food varies re­gion­ally. (Craw­ford, et al., 2006; Ran­dall and Ran­dall, 1990)

• Primary Diet
• carnivore
  • piscivore

• Animal Foods
• fish
• mollusks
• aquatic crustaceans

Pre­da­tion

African pen­guins are on the en­dan­gered species list. Ini­tially, their de­cline was due to the ex­ploita­tion of eggs for food. Also, habi­tat al­ter­ation and dis­tur­bance as­so­ci­ated with guano col­lec­tion at breed­ing colonies con­tributed to their de­cline. These fac­tors have now largely ceased, and the major cur­rent threats in­clude com­pe­ti­tion with com­mer­cial fish­eries for pelagic fish prey and oil pol­lu­tion. Nat­ural threats in­clude com­pe­ti­tion with Cape Fur seals (Arc­to­cephalus pusil­lus) for space at breed­ing colonies and for food re­sources, as well as pre­da­tion by seals on pen­guins. Feral cats are also pre­sent and pose a prob­lem at some colonies. African pen­guins also face pre­da­tion of eggs and chicks by avian preda­tors such as kelp gulls (Larus do­mini­canus) and sa­cred ibises (Threskior­nis aethiopi­cus), while nat­ural ter­res­trial preda­tors, such as mon­gooses (Cyn­ic­tis peni­cil­lata), genets (Genetta tig­rina), and leop­ards (Pan­thera par­dus) are also pre­sent at main­land colonies. ("The IUCN Red List of Threat­ened Species", 2009; Craw­ford, et al., 2001; Ran­dall and Ran­dall, 1990; Ste­foff, 2005)

• Anti-predator Adaptations
• cryptic

• Known Predators

  • Cape fur seals (Arctocephalus pusillus)
  • kelp gulls (Larus dominicanus)
  • sacred ibises (Threskiornis aethiopicus)
  • yellow mongooses (Cynictis penicillata)
  • large-spotted genets (Genetta tigrina)
  • leopards (Panthera pardus)

Ecosys­tem Roles

African pen­guins are preda­tors of small shoal­ing fish, in­clud­ing an­chovies (En­graulis capen­sis) and sar­dines (Sardinops sagax). Up to 18 species of crus­taceans are also prey to the African pen­guin.

Ad­di­tion­ally, four types of blood par­a­sites, Plas­mod­ium re­lic­tum, P. elon­ga­tum, P. cath­e­merium, and Leu­co­cy­to­zoon tawaki have been recorded in Sphenis­cus de­mer­sus. (Craw­ford, et al., 2001; Craw­ford, et al., 2006; Craw­ford, et al., 2008; Cun­ning­ham, et al., 2008; Jones and Shel­lam, 1999; Ran­dall and Ran­dall, 1990)

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Pos­i­tive

African pen­guins pro­vide a sub­stan­tial source of guano. Guano was ex­ca­vated from rook­eries, processed, and made into fer­til­izer, which was then sold around the world. Pen­guin skins have been used as gloves. Guano is now for­bid­den in fer­til­izer, which has re­duced the eco­nomic im­por­tance for hu­mans. African pen­guins also ben­e­fit hu­mans by eco­tourism. They are a species that hu­mans can get up close to and watch how they in­ter­act with their en­vi­ron­ment. The pri­mary view­ing site of African pen­guins is the colony at False Bay in Si­mons Town, South Africa. This colony has over 2000 pen­guins. African pen­guins are the most com­mon pen­guin found in zoos due to their size and tem­per­a­ture re­quire­ments, which are easy to main­tain. (Craw­ford, et al., 2006; Shan­non and Craw­ford, 1999; Ste­foff, 2005)

• Positive Impacts
• ecotourism

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Neg­a­tive

There are no real neg­a­tive eco­nomic ef­fects of the African pen­guin. They do not eat enough fish to be detri­men­tal to the local fish­ing in­dus­try. (Ste­foff, 2005)

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

African pen­guins are clas­si­fied as vul­ner­a­ble. Since the early 1900s, the African pen­guin pop­u­la­tion has been in de­cline. The ini­tial de­cline was due to com­mer­cial sales of eggs and dis­tur­bance of nest­ing birds. Presently, the species is threat­ened by oil pol­lu­tion. ("The IUCN Red List of Threat­ened Species", 2009; Frost, et al., 1976)

• IUCN Red List

  Endangered
  More information

• IUCN Red List

  Endangered
  More information

• US Migratory Bird Act

  No special status

• US Federal List

  Endangered

• CITES

  Appendix II

• State of Michigan List

  No special status

Con­trib­u­tors

Will Pearce (au­thor), Rad­ford Uni­ver­sity, Karen Pow­ers (ed­i­tor), Rad­ford Uni­ver­sity, Tanya Dewey (ed­i­tor), Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan-Ann Arbor.

Ref­er­ences

2009. "The IUCN Red List of Threat­ened Species" (On-line). Ac­cessed Feb­ru­ary 01, 2010 at http://​www.​iucnredlist.​org/​apps/​redlist/​details/​144810/​0.

Cooper, J. 1977. Moult of the black-footed pen­guin. In­ter­na­tional Zoo Year­book, 18: 22-27.

Craw­ford, R., P. Barham, L. Un­der­hill, L. Shan­non, J. Co­et­zee, B. Dyer, T. Leshoro, L. Up­fold. 2006. The in­flu­ence of food avail­abil­ity on breed­ing suc­cess of african pen­guins Sphenis­cus de­mer­sus at Robben Is­land, South Africa. Bi­o­log­i­cal Con­ser­va­tion, 132/1: 119-125.

Craw­ford, R., J. David, L. Shan­non, J. Kem­per, N. Klages, J. Roux, L. Un­der­hill, V. Ward, A. Williams, A. Wol­faardt. 2001. African pen­guins as preda­tors and prey-cop­ing (or not) with change. African Jour­nal of Ma­rine Sci­ence, 23: 435-447.

Craw­ford, R., L. Un­der­hill, J. Co­et­zee, T. Fair­weather, L. Shan­non, A. Wol­faardt. 2008. In­flu­ences of the abun­dance and dis­tri­b­u­tion of prey on african pen­guins Sphenis­cus de­mer­sus off west­ern South Africa. African Jour­nal of Ma­rine Sci­ence, 30: 167-175.

Cun­ning­ham, G., V. Strauss, P. Ryan. 2008. African pen­guins (Sphenis­cus de­mer­sus) can de­tect di­methyl sul­phide, a prey-re­lated odour. The Jour­nal of Ex­per­i­men­tal Bi­ol­ogy, 221: 3123-3127.

Frost, P., W. Siegfried, A. Burger. 2009. Be­hav­ioural adap­ta­tions of the jack­ass pen­guin, Sphenis­cus de­mer­sus to a hot, arid en­vi­ron­ment. Jour­nal of Zo­ol­ogy, 179: 165-187.

Frost, P., W. Slegfried, J. Cooper. 1976. Con­ser­va­tion of the jack­ass pen­guin (Sphenis­cus de­mer­sus). Bi­o­log­i­cal Con­ser­va­tion, 9/2: 79-99.

Heath, R., R. Ran­dall. 1989. For­ag­ing ranges and move­ments of jack­ass pen­guins (Sphenis­cus de­mer­sus) es­tab­lished through radio teleme­try. Jour­nal of Zo­ol­ogy, 217: 367-379.

Jones, H., G. Shel­lam. 1999. Blood par­a­sites in pen­guins, and their po­ten­tial im­pact on con­ser­va­tion. Ma­rine Or­nithol­ogy, 27: 181-184.

Ran­dall, R., B. Ran­dall. 1990. Cetaceans as preda­tors of jack­ass pen­guins Sphenis­cus de­mer­sus: de­duc­tions based on be­hav­iour. Ma­rine Or­nithol­ogy, 18: 9-12.

Shan­non, L., R. Craw­ford. 1999. Man­age­ment of the african pen­guin Sphenis­cus de­mer­sus-in­sights from mod­el­ing. Ma­rine Or­nithol­ogy, 27: 119-128.

Ste­foff, R. 2005. Pen­guins. 99 White Planes Road Tar­ry­town, NY: Mar­shall Cavendish Bench­mark.

Thumser, N., M. Ficken. 1998. A Com­par­i­son of the Vocal Reper­toires of Cap­tive Sphenis­cus Pen­guins. Ma­rine Or­nithol­ogy, 26: 41-48.

Whit­ting­ton, P., B. Dyer, N. Klages. 2000. Max­i­mum Longevi­ties of African Pen­guins Sphenis­cus De­mer­sus Based on Band­ing Records. Ma­rine Or­nithol­ogy, 28: 81-82.

Wil­son, R., G. La Cock, M. Wil­son, F. Mol­lagee. 1985. Dif­fer­en­tial di­ges­tion of fish and squid in jack­ass pen­guins Sphenis­cus de­mer­sus. Ornis Scan­di­nav­ica, 16: 77-79.