The Rockhopper Penguins

New Zealand Listener, Volume 15, Issue 381, 11 October 1946, Page 18

The Rockhopper Penguins

(Written for "The Listener" by

J. H.

SORENSEN

islands, sub-antarctic, or antarctic regions will probably bring memories to most people of those quaint birds, the penguins. Much has been written of penguins . mention of the southern and many fascinating films of their life and habits have been taken. Some ‘species breed on the New Zealand mainland and stragglers of several kinds are not uncommon even north of Cook Strait. There should not be any New Zealand school child who has not seen at least a picture of a penguin, while any adult will be familiar with the name if only because of its association with cheaper books. The farther south one goes the more plentiful do penguins become and the vast numbers breeding on some of the southern islands have to be seen to be believed. Even Antarctica itself has its penguins, notably the queer little Adelies and the huge Emperors. The Emperor may reach 90 pounds in weight. Its near relative, the slightly smaller King Penguin, breeds in immense ~colonies on Macquarie Island and, along with the Royal penguin, was at one time slaughtered in large numbers in order to obtain the oil in which they are so rich. The commonest penguins on the subantarctic islands occupied during the late war are the crested penguins, so named because they have erect or drooping crests of yellow feathers on the head. On Campbell Island the penguin in greatest numbers is the crested one known as the rockhopper. And they are well named, too, for seldom are they ever seen to walk and their quaint hopping gait is most amusing, particularly when they are in a hurry to get up a steep hillside to their nesting-ground or when scrambling over huge boulders. Several large breeding colonies exist all round the island, but the one below Mt. Paris on the southern coast must be one of the largest known of this penguin. The area occupied by the colony was measured and then test counts made over small areas within it. It was found that seven birds to the square yard was.a fair average and this gave the astonishing figure of two and

a-half million birds in the colony. Many of. the other rockhopper colonies . are large, but the Mt. Paris colony is amazing. Unfortunately it is not easy of access and at some distance from the camp. Some of the other colonies are quite accessible from the land; some could* only be reached from the sea in calm weather. Gulliver in Lilliput One colony on the southern coast I first visited early in my coast-watching days. It was the first time I had ever been right among the rockhopper penguins and when at last, after forcing a way down through a tangle of gigantic boulders and chest-high tussock and fern, I stood in the colony, I felt like Gulliver in Lilliput. A giant, too, I must have appeared to the tiny inhabitants whose privacy I had invaded. But they were not frightened, even when I walked among them, and they defended their territorial rights to the best of their ability. So long as I stood still, things went on as usual; but any move on my part was the signal for a stream of raucous abuse and a fury of rapid pecks and flipper-beating. , Brave little fellows defending their homes against a. gigantic invader-and what homes they were! The main colony was situated among:a tumble of ‘rocks of all sizes and shapes with the patches of tussock and fern almost trampled right out. Only in crevices among the rocks could various small plants obtain a hold. The ground occupied by the penguins was churned to mud, ankle deep, and saturated with moisture and guano. In such positions and surroundings the rockhoppers were nesting, but few of the nests were worthy of the name, most being merely depressions in the mud and stones and not much drier-and certainly no cleaner-than the filth surrounding them. A few pairs had built on the flat tops of rocks or on trodden-dgwn tussock. These sites, too, were saturated and filthy. Two eggs is the usual clutch and they soon get so liberal a coating of mud all ever them as to be almost indistinguishable from the stones about the nest. That (continued on next page)

(continued from previous. page) the birds are able to fay their clutch and rear a family under such conditions is really remarkable. So much seems to be happening in a busy colony that it is hard to watch individuals. I was struck, however, by the activities of one industrious little fellow who was making repeated arduous trips to a patch of a rock plant and returning to his mate on a particularly sloppy nesting site with a small contribution of herbage in his beak. The contribution was gravely offered and as gravely received, then added to the general mess beneath! A wheelbarrowful would have been required to elevate the sitting hen out of the slime; but no young husband returning to his bride with furniture for the happy home could have been prouder than the carrier of the tiny wisps of greenery. One could almost see him sneer at the other mud-dwellers who made no efforts to beautify their homes. Traffic Rules The mated pairs of these little penguins are very devoted and bitterly resent the intrusion of another bird within the immediate vicinity of their nest. The intruder is set upon with vigour and, as any attempt at retaliation only brings him within range of other families, a hasty retreat has to be made. Often in such retreat he runs foul of others, is knocked down, or slips over a ledge before he manages to gain a respite in an unoccupied area. From the latter he must run. the gauntlet again. So long as he has a definite objective things are not so bad, for the main runways are so constructed that birds using them ‘can scurry along with the minimum of harassing attention. Well-used runways are channelled deeper and one almost expects to see a penguin on point duty at the intersections. ‘

On the outskirts of the colonies are the outcasts, bad boys and unoccupied unmated birds. These are a source of much indignant annoyance to the nesting birds going about their lawful business. The "gangs" seem to act in unison and as if at a pre-arranged signal, all will race madly along for fifty yards or so, bustling the more sober members of the community and eyen knocking them off their nests. Suddenly they all stop, only to turn round and race back again" If you can imagine a penguin racing by hopping then you will realise how comical the performance is. I saw many birds return from the sea. A heavy surf was breaking on the steep boulder beach and on the crest of the wave (or rather in it) would be several penguins. As the wave receded, the rockhoppers would hurriedly pick themselves up and strive to gain drier land. Using beak, feet and flippers they would climb to the top of the boulder in order to get the start required for a series of hops. If, however, another wave threatened to overtake them before they were out of reach, they immediately faced it and dived to meet it. Finally they would emerge a little higher than before. In April, the breeding season finishes and the time of annual moult arrives. Younger birds moult earlier and- some comical, woebegone sights are seen straggling round the colony. In all. states of. dress and undress they stand about and shiver, lose weight. and look _ ill. Finally the moult is over and, resplendent in a new plumage, the rockhoppers go to sea for the winter. The next four months is spent somewhere out in the southern oceans and not a bird is seen near land.. _ The -populous and noisy colonies which once contained thousands of birds are now deserted. and sile..t. They will remain so.until the following spring when, in _ October, penguin-housekeeping will begin once more.