![]() |
|
|
Crested Penguin (Eudyptes)Eastern Rockhopper Penguin(Eudyptes filhoi)
Click on thumbnails for larger image The average size is 18 to 23 inches making them amongst the smallest of the Eudyptes penguins. The female being smaller weighing 5.1 to 5.9 pounds than the male weighing 6.2 to 7.5 pounds. E. filhoi has a small reddish bill and modest narrow yellow plumes which do not join or meet on the forehead. They have a black occipital crest and differ from other Rockhopper penguin species by having prominent fleshy margins separating the bill from the feathers. They are also generally less aggressive and boisterous. E. filhoi breeds on Marion, Crozet, Kerguelen, Heard, Macquarie, Auckland, Campbell, Bounty and Antipodes islands. They eat small fish and cephalopods. As with other crested penguins,two eggs are laid; a smaller A egg with a mortality rate of 60% to 80% and the larger B egg with a 40% to 60% success rate. Rockhopper penguins can swim up to 5.1 miles per hour. Since now classified as a separate species all 3 Rockhopper species are now considered vulnerable. A greater than 90% reduction in population have occurred on the Auckland, Campbell and Antipodes Islands. Northern Rockhopper Penguin (Eudyptes Moseleyi)
Click on thumbnails for larger image Northern Rockhoppper Photo Gallery 1 The average size is 19 to 23 inches making it probably the largest of the 3 Rockhopper species. The males are larger than the females. Their plumage is unique distinguishing from all other Eudpytes penguins.The narrow plumes do not meet at or join on the forehead, and which once past the eye droop in luxuriant bushy crest to reach and extend over the white side of the breast (see above right). E. moseleyi breeding is confined in the South Atlantic on the islands of Tristan da Cunha archipelago, Gough, Amsterdam, and St Paul. There are 300,000 pairs on Tristan da Cunha archipelago and Gough, and between 26,000 to 48,000 pairs on Amsterdam and St. Paul. Two eggs are laid; a smaller A egg with a mortality rate of 60% to 80% and the larger B egg with a 40% to 60% success rate. Rockhopper penguins can swim up to 5.1 miles per hour. Since now classified as a separate species all 3 Rockhopper species are now considered vulnerable.
|