A medium-sized penguin (55 cm and 3.2-4.5 kg). Head, throat and upperparts
blue-black. Breast and abdomen are silky white. Feet and legs pinkish white
above and blackish brown behind tarsi, soles and at the front of webs. Yellow
crest starting near the nostril, extending back horizontally and drooping behind
the eyes. The crest feathers are shorter than in Rockhopper penguins and than in
Snares penguins. Brownish-red eyes. Orange-brown bill separated from the
feathers by a thin strip of black skin.
Marine. Fiordland penguins prefer to breed in areas where the marine habitat
features a wider continental shelf. Nesting habitat ranging from temperate rain
forest or dense shrub, to sea caves and rocky shorelines. Nests are often sited
in hollows at the bases, or underneath roots of trees, beneath boulders or in
rock crevices.
Colonies poorly delineated and at some locations nests are dispersed over
considerable stretches of coast line. Penguins arrive at their breeding colonies
from mid-June onwards, most nests are established by mid-July. Two eggs layed in
late July -early August. Incubation by both sexes, around 33 days. Chicks fledge
around mid- to late November, about 75 days after hatching.
“Vulnerable” (IUCN Red List 2018) based on the suspected ongoing population
decline (assumed to be ≥ 30% over the course of 10 years), probably as a result
of introduced terrestrial predators. Main threats are introduced terrestrial
predators, human disturbance, commercial and recreational fisheries.
Mattern, T. 2013. Fiordland Penguin (Eudyptes pachyrhynchus). In PENGUINS:
NATURAL HISTORY AND CONSERVATION (García Borboroglu, P.G. and Boersma P.D. eds.)
University of Washington Press, Seattle U.S.A. 328 pp.
