Penguins at Oamaru

Six of the 17 species of penguins in the world can be found in New Zealand. (Click here for an excellent web site about penguins in NZ.) We saw two species at Oamaru.

There was a small colony of yellow-eyed penguins (Wikipedia entry, NZ DoC link):

These penguins are large (30 inches, 14 pounds) and somewhat endangered. They are solitary birds.

There was a larger colony of blue penguins (Wikipedia entry, NZ DoC link):

Blue penguins are the smallest penguins (16 inches, 2 pounds). They are common and they live in colonies. We also saw blue penguins at the International Antarctic Centre in Christchurch.

(Photos from Google Images. Our photos of a yellow-eyed penguin were so-so, and we were not allowed to take photos of the blue penguin.)

This was spring in New Zealand, and the penguin chicks had recently hatched. The nests with the chicks were on land. The penguin parents took turns out at sea during the day fishing for food, returning to their nests at dusk to feed the chicks. We saw the penguins as they were returning to land. The yellow-eyed penguins returned one at a time. The blue penguins returned in groups called rafts.

The blue penguins had established a colony in an old rock quarry, and there was actually a grandstand built to watch the rafts come ashore. We saw over 100 birds in three rafts come ashore. Click here for a web site about this blue penguin colony.