Penguins of Macquarie island
There are many different species of penguin that breed and dwell on the beaches of Macquarie Island some of which include the Royal Penguin, Rock hopper Penguins, King and Gentoo Penguins.
Royal Penguins: Royal Penguins have an estimated population of around 850,000 on Macquarie island and were once hunted by the sealers there for their oil along with the King Penguins who also live on Macquarie Island. They have mostly white chins and face with crestlike yellow feathers on their heads. Royal penguins have black flippers which they use to 'fly' through the water often reaching speeds of up to 30 km/h when diving for fish squid and krill. Royal penguins can only be seen breeding on Macquarie Island where they nest in shallow scrapes that are lined with grass or pebbles. Large quantities of penguins arrive to breed in their colonies in October and females generally lay two eggs. The colonies are usually packed so tight that the surrounding vegetation is turned to mud. Once laid the first egg is kicked from the nest and doesn't usually hatch while the other egg takes around 30 days to hatch. Males guard the chicks for 3 to 4 weeks and after that chicks join 'creches' (nursery groups) where they stand together for warmth and protection. From the middle of January parents begin to feed their chicks with each taking shifts to forage for food, such as krill, fish or squid. Most chicks head out to sea on their own after being fledged in February with the adults all leaving before May meaning all colonies are deserted. Royal penguins then spend the Winter at sea mostly around the waters between Tasmania and Antarctica until the next breeding season.
Rock Hopper penguins: Rock hopper penguins are one of the smallest of the penguin species standing around 50 centimeters tall that live in large colonies and have blood-red eyes, an orange beak and pink webbed feet and feed on a diet of fish, crustaceans, squid and krill. During breeding season they return to the Island they hatched from and create a small burrow for them self and mate who take turns incubating the egg until hatched and are aggressively peck at anything that may stray too close. Their numbers have declined rapidly in the past 30 years and have been recognized by the IUCN as vulnerable and could be listed as endangered in the next few years if their numbers continue to decline a they are.
King Penguins: King Penguins are the second largest penguin standing up to 80-95cm tall and males weighing around 16.5 kg and females about 14.5kg and all have a golden-orange patch of feathers on their necks. In 1993 the king penguin breeding count was around 1.5 million pairs meaning are one of the least endangered of the penguins. They stay in groups called colonies which number from less than 30 to over the hundreds of thousands on sub-antarctic islands, including Macquarie Island which sports great breeding grounds because of the level beaches that the island has. It takes approximately 15 weeks for an egg to hatch and during those 15 weeks both parents will share the job of caring for the egg. King Penguins do not build nest but hold the egg between their legs during incubation and once the egg is hatched the chick must fast for days at a time while the parent(s) forage for food in the oceans around the colonized island. They have two main predators in the wild; the leopard seal and killer whale both hunt the penguin for food and eggs are endangered by skuas, sheath bills and giant petrels who take eggs and young chicks.
Gentoo: These penguins are one of the medium sized of the penguins standing around 75-90cm tall and are closely related to the chin strap and Adelie penguins. They sport a red-orange beak and white eye patches which helps distinguish them from any other species of penguin. Gentoo penguins nest with their mate long before the breeding season and make small nests on the beaches of the island and take in turns incubating the egg and since Gentoo penguins don't venture far from the colonized island chicks are regularly fed, this is probably one of the reasons why Gentoo penguins usually bear two chicks, rather then one like most other penguins. Gentoo penguins are the least common penguin on sub-antarctic islands with a last record breeding count of 314,000 pairs and are near threatened as an endangered species. Gentoo penguins have a main diet of rock cod, squid, fish and krill. Predators of the Gentoo penguin include: skuas, falcons, kelp gulls, giant petrels and feral cats who take eggs and young chicks while adults are snatched up by leopard seals along with the occasional flattening of a nest by an elephant seal moving around the island.
Royal Penguins: Royal Penguins have an estimated population of around 850,000 on Macquarie island and were once hunted by the sealers there for their oil along with the King Penguins who also live on Macquarie Island. They have mostly white chins and face with crestlike yellow feathers on their heads. Royal penguins have black flippers which they use to 'fly' through the water often reaching speeds of up to 30 km/h when diving for fish squid and krill. Royal penguins can only be seen breeding on Macquarie Island where they nest in shallow scrapes that are lined with grass or pebbles. Large quantities of penguins arrive to breed in their colonies in October and females generally lay two eggs. The colonies are usually packed so tight that the surrounding vegetation is turned to mud. Once laid the first egg is kicked from the nest and doesn't usually hatch while the other egg takes around 30 days to hatch. Males guard the chicks for 3 to 4 weeks and after that chicks join 'creches' (nursery groups) where they stand together for warmth and protection. From the middle of January parents begin to feed their chicks with each taking shifts to forage for food, such as krill, fish or squid. Most chicks head out to sea on their own after being fledged in February with the adults all leaving before May meaning all colonies are deserted. Royal penguins then spend the Winter at sea mostly around the waters between Tasmania and Antarctica until the next breeding season.
Rock Hopper penguins: Rock hopper penguins are one of the smallest of the penguin species standing around 50 centimeters tall that live in large colonies and have blood-red eyes, an orange beak and pink webbed feet and feed on a diet of fish, crustaceans, squid and krill. During breeding season they return to the Island they hatched from and create a small burrow for them self and mate who take turns incubating the egg until hatched and are aggressively peck at anything that may stray too close. Their numbers have declined rapidly in the past 30 years and have been recognized by the IUCN as vulnerable and could be listed as endangered in the next few years if their numbers continue to decline a they are.
King Penguins: King Penguins are the second largest penguin standing up to 80-95cm tall and males weighing around 16.5 kg and females about 14.5kg and all have a golden-orange patch of feathers on their necks. In 1993 the king penguin breeding count was around 1.5 million pairs meaning are one of the least endangered of the penguins. They stay in groups called colonies which number from less than 30 to over the hundreds of thousands on sub-antarctic islands, including Macquarie Island which sports great breeding grounds because of the level beaches that the island has. It takes approximately 15 weeks for an egg to hatch and during those 15 weeks both parents will share the job of caring for the egg. King Penguins do not build nest but hold the egg between their legs during incubation and once the egg is hatched the chick must fast for days at a time while the parent(s) forage for food in the oceans around the colonized island. They have two main predators in the wild; the leopard seal and killer whale both hunt the penguin for food and eggs are endangered by skuas, sheath bills and giant petrels who take eggs and young chicks.
Gentoo: These penguins are one of the medium sized of the penguins standing around 75-90cm tall and are closely related to the chin strap and Adelie penguins. They sport a red-orange beak and white eye patches which helps distinguish them from any other species of penguin. Gentoo penguins nest with their mate long before the breeding season and make small nests on the beaches of the island and take in turns incubating the egg and since Gentoo penguins don't venture far from the colonized island chicks are regularly fed, this is probably one of the reasons why Gentoo penguins usually bear two chicks, rather then one like most other penguins. Gentoo penguins are the least common penguin on sub-antarctic islands with a last record breeding count of 314,000 pairs and are near threatened as an endangered species. Gentoo penguins have a main diet of rock cod, squid, fish and krill. Predators of the Gentoo penguin include: skuas, falcons, kelp gulls, giant petrels and feral cats who take eggs and young chicks while adults are snatched up by leopard seals along with the occasional flattening of a nest by an elephant seal moving around the island.