Buller's Birds of New Zealand, 1st ed., Rockhopper penguin (l), Little Blue penguin (r).
Rockhopper penguins are the smallest of the crested penguins and the most widespread. They are found on islands near the Antarctic polar front to those near the subtropical convergence in the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans.
There are three sub species, all recorded in the New Zealand region; western rockhopper, chrysocome and Moseley’s rockhopper moseleyi; the eastern rockhoppers, filholi, breed on the Antipodes, Auckland and Campbell Islands.
Rockhopper penguins from Gould's Birds of Australia, 1840-48.
Taxonomy | |
---|---|
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Sphenisciformes |
Family: | Spheniscidae |
Genera: | Eudyptes |
Species: | chrysocome |
Sub Species: |
Native bird
55 cm., 2.8kg., black with white belly, red eyes, orange beak, pink webbed feet, and spiky yellow and black feathers on their head
Breed on the Antipodes, Auckland and Campbell Islands.
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Australian Antarctic Program
Buller, Walter Lawry, Birds of New Zealand, 1st ed., 1873.
Gould, John, Birds of Australia, 1840-48.
Heather, B., & Robertson, H., Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand, 2000.
Oliver, W.R.B., New Zealand Birds, 1955.
Saturday, 24 September, 2023; ver2023v1