Royal Penguin

“A Single Event Could Wipe Out Royal Penguins”

Residents of the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic waters, the royal penguin remains “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.” After decades of study, researchers still aren’t 100 percent sure where the species jets to for about six months a year! They likely hang around Australian, Tasmanian, and New Zealand waters — and a smattering of evidence suggests so — but certainty on the matter continues to elude ornithologists.

We do know that these penguins only breed around Macquarie Island and don golden feather crowns. But most disconcertingly, one devastating event — like a vicious storm or oil spill — could wipe out royal penguins in a flash.

5 Fascinating Royal Penguin Facts

• Scientists are still unsure where royal penguins spend the winter.
• These Penguins only breed in and around Macquarie Island, a small spit of land halfway between Australia and Antarctica. The animal’s restricted breeding habitat is an alarming vulnerability.
• These penguins regularly clear 150-foot dives.
• Both male and female penguins share chick-rearing duties.
• Royal penguins were ruthlessly exploited for their oil in the late-19th and early-20th centuries.

Scientific Name

Eudyptes schlegeli is this penguin’s scientific name. Eudyptes derives from the Greek and means “good diver.” Schlegeli is a pseudo-Latin honorific venerating zoologist Herman Schlegel, the first person to describe royal penguins.

Species

The Royal penguin is considered a separate penguin species – for now. Some scientists believe, based on DNA evidence, morphology, and behavior, that Royal penguins are a white-faced variant of Macaroni penguins.

Evolution

Fossil records indicate that royal penguins’ common ancestors lived as long as 40 million years ago and were around five feet tall. They are believed to have originated in Antarctica, which was covered in forests at that time and connected to what would become New Zealand, Australia, South America, and surrounding islands. These ancient ancestors of penguins had diverged from the ancestors of petrels and albatrosses around 71 million years ago.

The arrival of the ice age 35 million years ago brought brutal changes to the ancient ancestors of the penguin. The continents of Australia and South America drifted away from Antarctica while ocean currents encircled it. This cooling climate likely killed the older penguins – leaving them to compete with whales for the same prey.

While most of the ancient penguins became extinct, others, like the royal penguin, swam to warmer waters to found new lineages. Species like the emperor penguin stayed in Antarctica and evolved adaptations suited to live in the cold environment.

Appearance and Behavior

Royal penguins look nearly identical to macaroni penguins. The only difference is the former’s white chin compared to the latter’s black one. Because of the striking similarities, many scientists believe royal penguins are a macaroni penguin subspecies. But penguin taxonomy is hotly debated, and other researchers insist there’s enough genetic difference between the two animals to warrant distinct classifications.

The largest of the crested penguin species, royals stand about 26 to 30 inches tall, and tip the scales between 6.6 and 17.6 pounds, with males typically larger than females.

The species’ yellow head plumage, which resembles a royal crown, is its namesake. Young individuals, however, only sport a single row of gold feathers over each eye. They also have slender, long, bright-orange bills.

Solid divers, these penguins regularly make 50- to 150-foot plunges that last about two minutes.

Habitat

These penguins don’t travel far and wide to breed. Instead, they return to a trio of islands between the Antipodes and Antarctica year after year: Macquarie, Bishop, and Clerk. On their pebbly shores, these penguins build homes for the breeding season, making it home base from September through February.

Diet

Royal penguins survive on a pescetarian diet of small fish, krill, crustaceans, and sometimes squid.

Predators and Threats

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature lists royal penguins as Near Threatened.

Natural Predators

Fur seals are royal penguins’ primary natural predators. Elephant seals occasionally crush penguins, and skua birds sometimes swipe up chicks and eggs.

Human-Related Threats

Between 1870 and 1919, royal penguin hunting was big business Down Under. Rich in oil and fats, these penguins were slaughtered and pressed for their valuable resources. Tasmania issued penguin hunting licenses, and an estimated 150,000 were taken yearly.

Thankfully, officials destroyed the gruesome industry with various environmental protection laws, and these penguin populations flourished.

But they’re not out of the proverbial woods.

Since Royal penguins only breed in one area, the species is exceptionally vulnerable to destructive weather and unforced commercial maritime errors, like oil spills. Since they’re so tightly packed, theoretically, a single catastrophic event could wipe out the entire population in one fell swoop.

As such, the threat of global warming casts a large shadow over royal penguins. Specifically, water temp fluctuations could drastically upend the marine ecosystem and diminish the food supply, leading to starvation and mass death.

Plastic pollution, habitat destruction, and nearby commercial fishing rigs — which inch closer to these penguin waters yearly — also pose serious threats.

Reproduction, Babies, and Lifespan

Reproduction

Royal penguins only reproduce in one region: the Macquarie Island cluster, which is carpeted in beaches and vegetative rocky slopes.

Every year, male royals come ashore in September — ahead of the ladies — to renovate and build breeding nests. Some choose to burrow in the slopes and sands; others construct rock and grass nests from the ground up.

Egg-laying starts in October when the females return and choose their monogamous seasonal mates. Unlike some other penguin species that isolate for mating, royals breed in huge colonies.

These penguins typically lay two eggs a few days apart. But for unknown reasons, parents almost always shove the first one, which is usually smaller, from the nest before hatching.

Both parents incubate the larger egg for about 35 to 40 days until hatching.

Babies

Once the hatchlings arrive, mother penguins immediately go sea foraging for about two weeks while the males stay back with the babies, keeping them warm and safe. When the ladies return and take over chick-rearing duties, the males head out.

When born, hatchlings have a brownish-gray and white down.

At a month old, the season’s hatchlings form nursery schools called crèches. These groupings have three purposes: protection, warmth, and socialization. It also gives penguin parents more time to forage.

After about two months, the chicks molt, grow waterproof feathers, and fledge the nest. Between seven and nine years old, the penguins reach sexual maturity.

Lifespan

Royal penguins in the wild typically live between 15 and 20 years.

Population

Currently, the total wild royal penguin population is 850,000 pairs — about 1,700,000 individuals. The largest colony, of about 500,000 pairs, breeds around Hurd Point on Macquarie Island.

The IUCN categorizes these penguins as Near Threatened, meaning the species faces possible extinction in the future but is not in the weeds yet. However, all penguins became protected species in 1961 when the Antarctic Treaty of 1959 took effect.

At the Zoo

Due to the species’ regional breeding restrictions, not a single U.S. zoo has these penguins! Even zoos and aquariums in Australia and New Zealand stick to little penguins, Gentoos, and kings.