Common Name: Humboldt Penguin Scientific Name: Spheniscus humboldti
VULNERABLE Humboldt Penguin Distribution: Western South America
Habitat: Rocky Shore & Ocean
Height: 56 - 66cm Weight: 4.5 - 5kg Diet: Carnivorous
Adults have a white front and a brown to black head and back. They have a dark stripe across the chest and a white mark starting at the eye and running down the neck. They have strong wings for swimming under water and use their feet and tail to steer. When on land, they can jump, hop and run. Male and female are the same size and have the same colourations. The Humboldt penguin is found around the coasts of Peru and Chile, living around rocky shores. The penguin only comes ashore to breed. The Humboldt penguin builds burrow like nests which it digs in guano (accumulated sea bird droppings). This is one of the reasons why the penguin is endangered as people remove the guano for use as a fertiliser. They are also threatened by disturbance, competition for food and introduced predators. The Humboldt penguin eats a variety of fish including sardines, anchovies, herring and smelt. The Humboldt penguin reaches maturity between 2 and 7 years of age and both parents raise the chick. After a courtship involving head bobbing and bowing, two eggs are laid. The eggs are not laid at the same time which results in one chick hatching before the other. This means that in poor years when there is little food, the second chick is not fed and therefore dies. Both parents look after the chick and alternate between hunting and babysitting. Chicks are ready to fledge at 70 – 90 days of age when they have gained all their adult feathers and lost the down. Humboldt penguins are social animals, communicating using sight and sound and pairs may stay with each other for long periods.