Tawaki Piki Toka - the angriest penguin
Well, the latest tumblr update has finally hit me so we'll see how i got posting about our second bird in the bird of the centuary competion: Tawaki Piki Toka, or the Eastern Rockhopper Penguin. They are one of four penguin species in the competition this year, and one of 13 species that have been recorded as being in the Aotearoa New Zealand region (Frankly I am too tired to figure out if DOC is counting the one very confused emperor penguin who somehow got all the way up to the Kapiti Coast in this, but either way, its great to see tawaki piki toka beating out so many other penguins to get into the competition)
It is also - like all rockhopper penguins - blessed with eyebrows that make them look delightfully pissed the fuck off
Now this is a bird that wants to speak to the manager
Rockhoppers are the smallest of the crested penguins, and have distinctive bright red eyes and yellow crests. Tawaki piki toa can be distinguished from the northern, western, and southern rockhoppers by the pink line around their beak They clock in between 2-4Kg, and can reach up to 55cm tall. Tawaki piki toa live in large colonies during the breeding season, with over 30,000 breeding pairs on Campbell island, and populations on the Antipodes and Auckland islands ranging from 2,900-3,000 breeding pairs. This is a steep decline from pre 1940's populations, with the effect climate change is having on their prey species mostly to blame.
I promise there are penguins in this picture. just zoom in. and maybe squint a little
It is frankly a miracle that they've lived this long and that there are so many of them. Instead of only contending with just the usual struggles of climate change that threaten ✨everything on the planet tbh✨ they spend one half of the year in the ocean, and the other half scaling cliffs that would make experienced rock climbers shudder. Both of these habitats are also well populated by fur seals, sea lions, petrels, and our friend from yesterday, the hākoakoa. Hākoakoa love to harass tawaki piki toa and steal eggs, as you can see here.
Are you jumping this high to show off or are you being chased by seals?
They are tough birds though, spending the breeding season hopping up and down cliffs to get food for their chicks. for the rest of the year, they show off their amazing swimming skills - often diving up to 50m below the surface in their hunt for small fish, squid and octopus. Unlucky sea creature get snatched up by their (terrifying) beaks and (even more terrifying tongues)
This is the last thing many a squid sees. I am glad I'm not a squid.
Like many penguins, tawaki piki toa breed in monogamous pairs, sharing incubation and child rearing duties throughout the breeding season. Males arrive back from sea to struggle up the cliff a week earlier than females, building nests out of pebbles and vegetation. They lay 2 eggs, the first being smaller and having a much lower chance of surving, although parent successfully raising two chick isn't unheard of.
After eggs are laid both parents take shifts incubating, with both parents staying with eggs for the first week. during this time they are both fasting, and males take the first shift hunting, often spending up to three weeks gorging on as much food as possible. Females spend around 10 days hunting once their mates return, and the chicks hatch during this period - which is why dad spend three weeks making himself as fat as possible, proof that the dad bod is an evolutionary necessity (at least for penguins) Once the chicks are around 24 days old, both parent will spend their days hunting, while chicks get to know the neighbours - huddling in crêches hundreds of chick strong.
Dinnertime for baby penguins! Mmmmm, barf
To learn more about these penguins, check out their NZ birds page (which has a delightful soundbite, showing off how much they sound like demented squeaky toys) This NIWA article about their population decline, or this video narrated by David Tennant, which shows the closely related southern rockhopper penguins doing the absolute most to scale a cliff
And if by some miracle you're reading this on the 30th of October, go here to vote for them in the bird of the century competition
