What is the difference between rockhopper penguins and macaroni penguins

The Chinstrap penguin is another type of penguin species that inhabits various Southern pacific islands and Antarctic ocean regions, including Argentina, Bouvet Island, Chile, and more. The alternate names of chinstrap penguin are ringed penguin , bearded penguin , and stone cracker penguin. Interestingly chinstrap penguins build a circular nest using stones on land. In , Johann Reinhold Forster , a Scottish naturalist, added chinstrap penguin into bird taxonomy.

Explore Chinstrap Penguin Fun Facts here. The Eastern Rockhopper penguin is one of the smallest crested penguins in subantarctic, Southern Indian, and Pacific ocean regions with yellow crest feathers.

They are sub-species of the Southern Rockhopper penguin with a unique pink margin around their bills. Per IUCN status, the eastern rockhopper penguin is considered vulnerable due to a declining population due to climate change and scarcity of food sources. The taxon author, Captain Frederick Wollaston Hutton , English-New Zealand naturalist, added this penguin species into taxonomy classification in Emperor penguin species is sometimes confused with the King penguin species because of their slight resemblance in terms of physical appearance.

However, their distribution around the continent is distinct: Emperor penguins live in the South while King penguins are found in the sub-Antarctic. Erect-crested penguins are considered to be one of the largest species of crested penguins. And like other crested penguins, members of this species bear the distinguishing feature of a yellow feather stripe above their eyes that extends from their bills. Unlike other species of crested penguins, the Erect-crested penguin can move this yellow crest feathers.

They live in large colonies in the rocky terrain Bounty and Antipodes Islands and spends their winters at ocean. The population of Erect-chest penguins are declining due to its smaller breeding range.

Fiordland Crested penguins, or simply Fiordland penguins are penguins endemic to the temperate rainforests of New Zealand. Like the Snares penguin, these penguins have a thick stripe of yellow feathers located above their eyes and extends up to the back of their head.

As such, this is the only known penguin species that live further north. Penguins of this species have an overall black-greyish plumage and the presence of two black bands that run across their chest. Gentoo penguins are large sized penguins that are characterized by having distinctive red-orange beaks, slightly orange feet, and white feather caps.

Regarding size, Gentoo penguins are the third largest penguins. They can reach up to 30 inches high and weigh about 12 lbs. While these penguins prefer frozen habitats, they can also thrive in ice-free ones like coastal plains and valleys. From the physical dimension perspective, Subantarctic Gentoo Penguin is about 75 cm long and 5 to 6 kgs weight. Like other living penguins, adults have black upperparts and white underparts, and a white triangle above the eyes.

The other common names are Johnny Penguin or Johnny. The current conservation status of the Gentoo Penguin is governed by the Australian legislation act Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act Forster Scotland naturalist described this species of penguin into the taxonomy classification in Humboldt penguins got their name from the cold water current that is coming from the Antarctic and flows to South America the place itself got its name from the German scientist Friedrich Humboldt.

Humboldt penguins have medium sized bodies, large heads, dominantly black plumage, and a distinct black band around their chests. Next, to Emperor penguins, King penguins ranked as the second largest penguins in the world. Aside from that, King penguins are known to be excellent in diving and can reach as deep as meters below. One notable feature of the King penguin is a gold-orange patch located on both sides of its neck. This patch gradually becomes lighter orange in its upper chest.

King penguin species is one of the few birds that do not use nests for incubating their eggs. Instead, King penguins place their eggs under their bellies on top of their feet.

Little penguins , also called as Fairy penguins are the smallest known species of penguins. They are so small that adults can only weigh up to 2. These penguins have a unique appearance due to their bright bluish-grey feather color hence the name.

Interestingly, young Little Blue penguins are white and brown in color that gradually becomes blue as they become adults. The White-Flippered penguin is the smallest penguin species about 12 inches tall endemic to New Zealand. This penguin species is a sub-species of little penguins Eudyptula. White-flippered penguins habitat in caves, headlands, and rock jumbles in Canterbury, New Zealand. In , the white-flippered penguin was listed as endangered under the U.

Endangered Species Act. These rare penguins have blue-shaded skin and white chests. Currently, populations are declining due to human disturbance, mammalian pests, invasive plants around nesting areas, marine food shortages, or biotoxins. New Zealand museum administrator and ornithologist Robert Falla and F. Kinsky added this penguin subspecies in In , Australian amateur ornithologist Gregory Mathews coined this subspecies of Little penguin into the taxonomy. New Zealand naturalists, namely Robert Falla and F.

Kinsky , described this penguin subspecies first in It is near the northern limit of its range in the Falkland Islands where it is the least common of the Falkland species. Very small numbers 24 pairs at 12 different sites are found in association with southern rockhoppers.

Immature and non-breeding birds moult from mid-January, breeding adults a little later. The birds have departed by the end of April. Their main colonies are further south, principally on South Georgia, where their population is in excess of 3 million. The primary drivers of declines are uncertain but could include climatic variation and competition for food from commercial fisheries.

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These cookies do not store any personal information. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. It is unknown whether occasional dark-faced birds among royal penguin colonies are colour variants or vagrant macaroni penguins. The erect-crested penguin is almost as large, and also has a black face and long, robust orange bill, but has paired crests that do not meet on the forehead.

Macaroni penguins are an abundant breeding species on islands situated close to the Antarctic convergence Polar Front in the Atlantic and Indian Ocean sectors of the Southern Ocean. There are no populations in the Pacific sector, where the macaroni penguin is replaced by the closely related royal penguin, and further north by the erect-crested penguin the next largest crested penguin.

The total population of macaroni penguins is estimated at just under 9 million pairs. The largest populations are on South Georgia c. These numbers may seem large, but the species is in decline and is classified by the IUCN as vulnerable. Although there are still very large populations of macaroni penguins, significant declines have been recorded at some of the large breeding sites such as South Georgia and Isla Recalada in southern Chile.

The reasons for the decline is unknown but possible suspects are climate change, impacts of industrial fishing for finfish and krill and shifting distribution and abundance in prey species. The macaroni penguin is a social nester, congregating in very large breeding colonies. Territories are established by males in late October just before females arrive.

Courtship is intense with the birds displaying mutual head movements, vocalisation and preening. Usually two eggs are laid but the smaller first egg is rejected when the larger second egg is laid. The majority of the care of the chick at the nest is done by the male. The chicks fledge in February to early March, then the adults moult in April-May, after which birds return to sea until October. Apart from coming ashore for breeding and moulting, the macaroni penguin spends the rest of its life at sea.

Predators at sea include leopard seals, fur seals and orca. Skuas and giant petrels take some eggs and chicks. The diet of the macaroni penguin consists of krill, fish and squid. During breeding, the female does most of the foraging until the end of the guard stage, provisioning the chick approximately every two days. Both adults feed the chick for the last weeks before it goes to sea. Outside the breeding season, macaroni penguins range over long distances foraging for food.

They have been recorded diving up to metres depth, but most dives are much shallower.. Baker, A. Multiple gene evidence for expansion of extant penguins out of Antarctica due to global cooling.

Green, K. Foraging ecology and diving behavior of macaroni penguins Eudyptes chrysolophus at Heard Island. Marine Ornithology 26 : Heather, B.