Western Rockhopper Penguin
Western Rockhopper Penguin
Eudyptes chrysocome
Aves
VULNERABLE

Stats

Lifespan
10-30 yrs
Size
Small
Diet
Carnivore
Activity
Diurnal
Social
Colony
Biome
Subantarctic coast
Range
Subantarctic islands
Movement
Swimming
Breeding
Egg-laying
Defense
Herd Safety
Status
Vulnerable

About

A small, pugnacious penguin of the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans, instantly recognisable by its wild yellow-and-black crest plumes and blood-red eyes. Rather than sliding on its belly, it bounces uphill on both feet simultaneously — the hopping gait that earned it the name.

Life cycle

  1. 1.
    egg
    A clutch of eggs is incubated in the nest, kept warm by a brooding parent until the chicks pip free.
  2. 2.
    hatchling
    A naked or downy hatchling is fed in the nest by its parents.
  3. 3.
    juvenile
    A feathered juvenile fledges from the nest and learns to fly and forage.
  4. 4.
    adult
    Fully grown with adult plumage.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Aves
Order
Sphenisciformes
Family
Spheniscidae
Genus
Eudyptes
Species
Eudyptes chrysocome