Blue Penguin

Maori Name: Kororā

Eudyptula minor

Maori name Korora                                                                                       

 

The smallest of all the penguins, the Blue Penguin is native to NZ.  It spends most of the year at sea where it hunts mainly small fish fairly close to the shore.  During breeding and moulting season it comes ashore at night to nest or roost in dark crevices, caves, burrows or thick vegetation.

 

The breeding season extends from July to December with peaks in August and November.  The nest is in a burrow, natural cavity or rock pile, or sometimes under driftwood.  Some blue penguins nest on loose colonies near the shore, but other s nest hundreds of metres from any other pair and can be over 500m inland.  Typically blue penguins lay two eggs, two or three days apart, both parents share the incubation and this lasts from 32 to 44 days with one chick hatching about 35 hours before the other. Chicks are brooded for the first 10 days, guarded continuously for a further 1-3 weeks, guarded only at night for a further 3-4 weeks, and then in the final stages they are visited only briefly at night.  When the chicks are 50-55 days old, they leave for the sea. First breeding is at 2-3 years.

 

The Blue Penguin has slate-blue upperparts and sides of face to near the eye with white belo.  They do not have crests or distinctive face markings.

 

Blue Penguins are widespread and breed on the coasts of southern Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand. They are often seen in shallow inshore harbours close to their breeding grounds.

A protected native species, populations can undergo severe crashes probably as a result of food shortages or bio-toxins.  Other threats to the species include development of the coastal margins and predation with uncontrolled dogs a major concern.  Fortunately, the West Coast Blue Penguin Trust is actively involved in the protection of the species.