Food

Around 90% of the yellow-eyed penguin’s diet is made up of small fish.

Cephalopods such as the arrow squid makes up the remainder. 

The penguin’s food consists of six main species of fish: 

• Opalfish
• Blue cod
• Red cod
• Ahuru (pink cod)  
• Silversides, and
• New Zealand blueback sprat  

The fish caught are small between 2 and 32 centimetres long – a good size for penguins. 

The opalfish, a bottom-dwelling species is found only around New Zealand. They are between 10 and 25 cm in length. It is long and slender with a flattened snout giving rise to the family name of `duckbill`.

Blue cod aren’t always blue.  Their body colour varies and larger fish are bluish with greenish sides and a golden brown stripe above each eye. 

Red cod are red-brown above, becoming pink on the sides and belly.  

Ahuru is a small deepwater fish. 

Arrow squid are mainly around the coast of the South Island and off the Campbell and Auckland Islands. Juveniles are eaten.