Royal penguins

The only place in the world that royal penguins (Eudyptes schlegeli) breed is Macquarie Island.

Royal penguins live in very large colonies. The largest colony at Hurd Point has around 500,000 pairs.

Royal penguins are one species of the crested penguin group (genus called Eudyptes), so named for their yellow crest on their heads.

lt is now recognised that royal penguins are a separate species to macaroni penguins. In the past some taxonomists have linked them with macaroni penguins found on Heard Island (Australian territory), South Georgia and several other subantarctic Islands. Royal penguins have a white chin and macaroni penguins have a black chin.

Males are larger than females.

Royal and macaroni penguins lay two eggs. The first is small and is discarded. No one knows the reason for this yet.

The diet of the royal penguin is composed of euphausiids (26% of the diet) and myctophid fish (52%) and the remainder squid and other crustaceans. The proportions change marginally throughout the breeding cycle. Buphausia vallentini and Kref~tichthys anderssoni are the most important prey items (Hull 1997). The diet differs at colonies around the island, particularly between the east and west coasts and shows substantial annual differences.

Royal penguins are migratory, leaving Macquarie Island after the breeding season It is unknown where they go during this time, although there have been sightings from Tasmania to the Antarctic sector of the Southen Ocean. During the breeding season, all feeding is undertaken in the Polar Frontal Zone, and the area of the zone changes with the stage in the breeding season. During the incubation stage birds travel over 600 km from Macquarie Island and back again in three weeks (Hull et al. submitted, Hull submitted).

For many years, they were killed and boiled down for oil.

Royal penguins have a highly synchronized cycle beginning when the males arrive in late September to claim nest sites. The females arrive in early October and lay their eggs in mid to late October with the chicks hatching about 30 days later. Males then guard the chicks for three to four weeks, until the chicks are large enough to join creches. From mid-January onward both parents are free to feed the chick and each adult foraging cycle lasts about two days (Warham 1971). The chicks fledge in late February, after which the parents return to sea to fatten for the moult which begins in mid-March. After they moult, the Royal Penguins remain at sea until the next breeding season. Rockhopper penguins have a very similar schedule except that each stage of the cycle is delayed by three to four weeks (Warham 1972).

Links

Taxonomic information on the Royal Penguin

Australian Antarctic Science (AAS) projects relating to Royal Penguins

Australian Antarctic publications relating to Royal Penguins

Unusual penguins