A day with the penguins

The three-month old yellow-eyed penguin chicks have shed almost all their downy feathers and are getting ready to head to sea for the  first time where they will learn to fish for themselves. This is the time when various people at the different breeding locations give the chicks a final check over by weighing, measuring and marking them for future population studies.

This week I was able to shadow the Trust’s staff and volunteers to observe the check and take some photos to share. As General Manager of the Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust, my tasks vary enormously but going along on trips such as these is definitely a highlight and a privilege. The team I joined included the Trust’s Field Manager David McFarlane and Ranger Leith Thomson, as well as Massey University veterinary students from Canada Allyson Colgan and Keira Macfarlane and University of Otago Wildlife Diploma students (from America!) Aviva Stein and Sabrina Hock.

The chicks were all weighed with competitive glee when their particular one weighed in at 5kg or more, the desired average ensuring the chicks have plenty of fat reserves to begin their foraging at sea. Next their foot and head measurements were taken before a transponder (or microchip) was inserted into the back of their necks. This practice has surpassed the traditional flipper-band marking of penguins on all of the Trust’s owned or managed reserves since 2009. The Trust believes that transpondering is preferable to the use of stainless steel bands which require ongoing maintenance and are implicated in feather wear, injuries, entanglement, and additional drag in water with  possible effect on foraging success. In addition it is also an advantage for subsequent monitoring, with no need to fix bands and is less intrusive than reading bands which may be obscured.

The marking of penguins identifies individual birds, and provides information on dispersal and age related survival, and recruitment, age at first breeding, fidelity to partners and nest sites, lifespan and reproductive success. These all are important components in establishing the long-term health and viability of populations. It also allows more elaborate investigation into the effectiveness of terrestrial conservation measures, and could also assist with any research on fisheries interactions along the coastlines. This information is fed into the national database administered by the Department of Conservation to further aid and refine the management and  conservation of this endangered species.

It was a fabulous day out, learning more about this species and I hope the photos give you a sense of how privileged we are to work with and help save this unique species, the yellow-eyed penguin.

By Sue Murray, General Manager, Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust. See slide show below!

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