Rockhopper Penguin

Rockhopper Penguin Facts

With some very colorful feathers on their heads, it is hard to mistake the Rockhopper Penguin for anything else. These crazy colors that are on feathers in all directions remind many people of the punk rock generation. It is due to this distinction that they are classified as crested penguins. They are the smallest in that category, weighing no more than five pounds when they are adults.

Depending on the time of year, you may notice them without feathers. This is called molting and they will regrow new ones. Every year this is going to occur and temporarily alter the appearance of the Rockhopper Penguins.

Distribution

You will find the majority of the Rockhopper Penguins found out there around the Antarctic.


Behavior

Some people find the behaviors of the Rockhopper Penguin to be silly but very interesting. They have been named after one such behavior. They can be observed hopping over the rocks along the areas where they live rather than just walking. They are very aggressive with each other which is different than the social structure for other types of penguins. They will fight over food, nesting locations, and even initial mating partners.

It is very interesting to watch how Rockhopper penguins interact with each other. They have plenty of non verbal methods that are simple enough to notice. They include shaking their head, moving their flippers, bowing, and preening.

Diet /Feeding

The Rockhopper Penguin isn’t picky when it comes to what it will eat. The main diet consists of krill, small fish, and squid. They are meat eaters, and they will consume anything else in the water that they can survive on if their main sources aren’t plentiful.

Even though they are very small, they have powerful flippers and feet that allow them to reach and to consume their prey with ease. Yet many of them lose their own life during their quest to find food. Rockhopper penguins are tasty treats to the likes of seals and some types of sharks.

Reproduction

Mating takes place for these penguins during the summer. Pairs of Rockhopper Penguins will mate with each other again and again over the years. The only exception is when one of the pair dies. Once the mating has taken place the pair will dig a whole in the ground and place pieces of grass inside of it. Generally two eggs are laid at a time. Sadly, most of the time only one of the offspring will survive. In many instances the smaller egg will be destroyed by predators before it is ever born.

The pair will take turns watching over the eggs. It takes about 34 days for them to hatch. Once the baby is born the mother leaves to hunt for fish while the father cares for the young. They baby chicks with then group with others about their age after the first four weeks of life.

Conservation

There are no conservation efforts in place for this particular penguin. It is estimated that more than three million of them are out there. Many people don’t realize there are so many of them due to the fact that they live in colonies smaller in size than other types of penguins. However, they were once hunted for their oil so limited laws to prevent that have been put in place. Yet with other sources now for such oils it really isn’t a concern.

Human Interaction

There are plenty of reports of people being attacked by Rockhopper Penguins. They are instinctively going to attack anything around them that they view as a threat to them or the rest of their colony. Left alone in their natural environment, they have a life span of about 10 years.