Snares Island Penguin facts

sclateri has an upright comb. Snow Hooded Penguins, in the forest, Snares Island, New Zealand.

Trap Penguin

A Snares penguin (Eudyptes robusus), also known as Snares Island penguin or Snares crest penguin, a type of crest penguin (genus Spheniscformes), characterised by springs of yellows nibs running over each eyebrow (the eyebrow strip) and extending from the basis of the bird's conical beak to the back of the skull.

In comparison to other types of the type, the tops of these feathers are longer and depend at the back of the skull. Its name derives from the Snares Islands, the group of rock islands it lives in the Southern Ocean near New Zealand. Though the nesting population is confined to the Snares Islands, migratory birds have travelled as far as Australia and the Falkland Islands.

The Snares penguin is often mistaken for the Fiordland penguin (E. pachyrhynchus) and the steppe penguin (E. sclateri). Snares penguin nutrition is not well recorded, but birdwatchers believe it is mainly made up of fish, but octopus and pelagic food is also used. From May to August, the Snares penguin live in their entire distribution area.

During August, the male returns to the nesting sites to dig shell-shaped cavities into the soil, which are later covered with grass and branches. Often nesting in thick populations of up to 1,500 nesting couples, the excavations carried out by the penguin, together with their faeces, take a material and pesticide tribute to the forests, and the populations are compelled to move to a new part of the forests every year.

At the end of September and beginning of October the females lay two nests eggs: a smaller one followed by a bigger one about five after. Adolescents are trained for maturity when they are about 11 months old and have left the village to survive alone.

The Snares penguin becomes pubescent at the young ages of six and can reach 20-22 years of life. Scientists estimate in 2008 that the Snares penguin populations numbered 26,000 brood couples, with most migratory bird populations on the North East Island, the group' s biggest island. In comparison to other types of the type, the populations are considered relatively steady.

The number of brood couples varied between 1985 and 2008 between 23,000 and 30,000. Relatively stable due to the remote nature of the island and New Zealand's stringent visiting policy. Entrance to the island is only possible for science trips with specific permission. The Snares Island is therefore free of invading animals such as mice, bunnies, fox, wild animals and females that inhabit the habitat of several other penguin populations.

However, since 1994 the specie has been classified on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's red list of endangered specimens because of its restricted brood area.