Yellow-eyed penguins are one of New Zealand’s special birds. Here are 8 facts about these unique endemic birds that breed on the South Island.
New Zealand is home to so many cool birds, like the Kereru, Tui, Kiwi, and Kea. I’ve written about some of these, but not all of them yet. My family and I recently took a trip to the southern part of the South Island. We explored the Otago peninsula, Mt. Cook, Te Anau, and down to Invercargill. During our travels we came across an incredibly cool bird, the yellow-eyed penguin.
8 Yellow-Eyed Penguin Facts
These are one of the rarest birds in the world. They are only found in New Zealand and breed in four areas on the mainland, all of which are on the South Island. They breed in Banks Peninsula, North of Otago, Otago Peninsula, and the Catlins.
Unlike most penguins, they aren’t very social, preferring to live solitary lives.
Amazingly, these penguins live in nests on shore in coastal forest or flax. Their nests may be well up into the bush or high up dunes interspersed in flax. In the early morning they wake up, waddle down to the beach and spend the day swimming and hunting. Then in the evening, they return to their nests. They swim ashore and waddle/walk back up to their nests. Read about our luck watching one come ashore at Sandfly Bay here.
Their Maori name is Hoiho.
Yellow-eyed penguins evolved and lived without predators for millions of years. Thus, they are simply not adapted or built to avoid predators (people, stoats, and other introduced mammals). Unfortunately, their population has been in serious decline since the arrival of people to New Zealand. This decline is due to predators and the loss of habitat. Scientists estimate that there are now around 6,000 birds left (including on offshore islands).
In recent years, the number of breeding pairs on the mainland has gone from around 150 in 1990 up to 600 in 1996, and now has been declining again to just over 200. That is not a lot of breeding pairs of penguins to sustain an entire population. Hopefully, you’ll get the chance to see some in the wild.
This is a larger penguin, about 76 cm tall. That is tall, but still a bit shorter than the King Penguin.
They travel far every day. These penguins swim 25 – 45 km offshore to do their foraging and hunting for food. Their preferred food is small fish, and squid. Yellow-eyed penguins dive for their food up to 150 meters deep!