Otago
Peninsula: Yellow-eyed Penguins
Yellow
Eyed Penguin, Maori Name: Hoiho (meaning "noise shouter")
Size: 65-70 cm (third tallest)
Age: 17 - 22 years (oldest known penguin was 24 years)
Yellow-eyed
Penguins gain their name because of their yellow iris and the
characteristic yellow head band. They live in New Zealand and
are one of the rarest penguins in the world with only about 5000
- 6000 individuals left. About one quarter of these live in the
east coast of the South Island and Stewart Island. The rest live
on Campbell and Auckland islands, about 600 km to the South.
The
Yellow-eyed Penguin is different from other penguins in many aspects
of it's biology and is the only penguin species that does not
become tame. They originally nested in the coastal forest, but
their distribution is now restricted to forest remnants and coastal
shrubs after extensive logging during the last 150 years.
Penguins
are thought of as the most human-like of all birds, waddling around
and waving their flippers, full of character! Unlike humans though,
penguins are very well adapted for life at sea, with streamlined
bodies for torpedo speed and flat, overlapping feathers designed
to keep them dry.
There are 18 different species of penguin in the world and all
of these live in the Southern Hemisphere. The world's rarest is
the yellow-eyed penguin. Standing about 65-68cm tall and weighing
5-8kg they get their name from the adult's yellow eye and yellow
stripe of feathers around their head. Yellow-eyed penguins are
also called 'Hoiho', their Maori name, which sounds like one of
the calls of the adult.
While they live on small islands south of New Zealand, the largest
mainland colony of this wonderful bird is on Otago Peninsula.
Even though people and penguins live almost side by side, these
birds are pretty shy and instead of nesting in huge colonies like
other penguins do (which keep them warm in the Antarctic), Hoiho
pairs build nests that hide them away, even from neighbouring
penguins!
Their thick fat layer keeps them warm in the water but often makes
them overheat on land. So they need the shelter of trees and bushes
to keep cool, as well as to hide.
Hoiho can live for up to 20 years and spend most of the day at
sea, feeding on fish and squid. They're amazing underwater and
can dive down to 120 metres deep, holding their breath for up
to four minutes! During their breeding season, the penguins come
ashore every evening and waddle up the beach to their nest site
as far as one kilometre inland! There they'll tend to their eggs
and chicks, of which there are usually only two per year.
Hoiho had been living along the southeast coast of New Zealand
long before people arrived and are well adapted to escape from
predators in the sea such as seals and sharks because they can
swim swiftly.
However, these penguins are clumsy walkers on land and are unable
to escape from introduced land predators like cats, dogs, ferrets
and rats. Also, farming and coastal deforestation is reducing
the shelter the penguins need for nesting. At one point, the significant
reduction in population numbers meant Hoiho have become endangered.
The
Maori named the Yellow-eyed Penguin the Hoiho meaning the "Noise
shouter". Their ecstatic display call can be ear-piercing
close-up and they use their voices for recognition, territorial
claims, courting and threatening.
