How to tell male king penguins from female ones - all the time

SUBANTARCTIC - It is difficult to distinguish males from females among king penguins, but a new Ibis study reveals that king penguins can be sexed with an accuracy of 100% based on the sex-specific syllable pattern of their vocalisations. In comparison, using beak length to sex king penguins is accurate 79% of the time.

Male-female king penguin couple
Image (c) Hannah Kriesell

Annual yellow-eyed penguin breeding results remain low

NEW ZEALAND – The Department of Conservation (DOC) and Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust estimate there are 250 breeding pairs of yellow-eyed penguins (hoiho) along the Otago and Southland coastline as their annual breeding season comes to an end.

This estimate is similar to the past two seasons (250 pairs and 260 pairs) but considerably lower than historically, where there have been between 400–600 breeding pairs.

No-fishing zones help endangered penguins

SOUTH AFRICA – Small no-fishing zones around colonies of African penguins can help this struggling species, new research shows.

African penguins. Photo credit: Richard Sherley

Working with the South African government, researchers from the University of Exeter and University of Cape Town tested bans on catching "forage fish" such as sardines and anchovies – key prey for the endangered penguins – from 20 km around their breeding islands.

The body condition and survival of chicks improved when the no-fishing zones were in place.

More research is needed, but the scientists say the fishing closures should continue in South Africa and should be considered elsewhere.

Fishing nets major threat to penguins

AUSTRALIA – The results of the first global review of penguin bycatch are in – and they highlight the serious risks that fishing nets pose to the survival of many penguin species. The study was published in the journal Endangered Species Research.

Penguins are among the world’s most iconic and loved birds, in spite of the fact most people will never get to see one in the wild. And opportunities to do so are diminishing, with 10 of the 18 penguin species threatened with extinction. After albatrosses, penguins are the most threatened group of seabirds. And this global review shows that, as it is for albatrosses, bycatch is a serious threat to some penguin species.

Yellow-eyed penguin nest numbers down

NEW ZEALAND – Recent yellow-eyed/hoiho penguin nest counts on mainland New Zealand indicate a continued decline in numbers in some areas for this rare species, said Department of Conservation (DOC) Threatened Species Ambassador Nicola Toki.

DOC carries out monitoring, research, and intensive management for yellow-eyed penguins alongside Treaty Partner Ngāi Tahu, key programme partner the Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust, University of Otago, important local associates such as Penguin Place and Penguin Rescue, community groups and volunteers.

Experts team up on study to save endangered African penguins

SOUTH AFRICA – With less than 25,000 breeding pairs in existence today, it is an uphill battle for South Africa's African penguin. The 60% drop in their population since 2001 has put them on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's endangered species list. In some colonies, the drop in population has been as high as 80%. Competition with fisheries, oil spills, climate change, diseases and predators are all contributing factors in their dramatic decline.

African penguins.
Photo credit: Ralph E.T. Vanstreels, D.V.M., Ph.D

To preserve this species and optimise rehabilitation efforts, epidemiologist Adam Schaefer from Florida Atlantic University in the USA joined forces with scientists Nola Parsons and Ralph Vanstreels from the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB). The facility, located near Cape Town, South Africa, receives more than 900 African penguins for rehabilitation each year. While the success rate for the overall release of these penguins back into the wild is about 75%, limited data exists on the factors that contribute to their successful rehabilitation.

To better understand how to improve the rehabilitation of African penguins, the researchers conducted a first-of-its-kind study on prognostic health indicators such as body mass, blood analysis, and infectious disease exposure. For the study, they analysed 3,657 adult African penguins that were admitted to the SANCCOB facility for rehabilitation between 2002 and 2013.

Penguins' calls are influenced by their habitat

AUSTRALIA – Birds use vocalisations to attract mates, defend territories and recognise fellow members of their species. But while we know a lot about how variations in vocalisations play out between populations of songbirds, it’s far less clear how this variation affects birds such as penguins in which calls are inherited.

A little penguin. Photo credit: D. Colombelli-Négrel

A new study from The Auk: Ornithological Advances examined differences in the calls of little penguins – nocturnal birds for whom vocalisations are more important that visual signals – from four colonies in Australia. It found that disparities in habitat, rather than geographic isolation or other factors, seem to be the key driver of variation in the sounds these birds use to communicate.

Diane Colombelli-Négrel and Rachel Smale of Flinders University recorded calls from four little penguin populations across a small area of South Australia, one of which had previously been shown to have subtle genetic differences from the other three. They then used playback experiments to test penguins’ ability to distinguish between calls from different colonies.