On 23 February 1997, while showing the sights of Victoria’s Great Ocean Road to a non-birding visitor, an unusual penguin was seen on the beach immediately west of the Twelve Apostles viewing platform (map refs. Topographic Map Sheet 7520 - XC828181; Lat/Long 143o 07’E 38o 40’S). We watched the penguin from the cliff top viewing platform, which was about 100 m from the bird, using Zeiss Jenoptem 10x50 Binoculars and Opticron Viewmaster x20 telescope. Numerous tourists enjoying the coastal scenery also stopped to look at the penguin, some taking photographs and video film, but as far as we are aware no other bird-watchers were present.
Description :-
It was larger than the Little Penguins Eudyptula minor seen earlier in our stay in Australia, although there were no other birds available for a direct comparison.
The bill was large, although finer than the illustrations in Slater et al (1986) and Simpson & Day (1996) suggests, and dark with a reddish tinge (rosy according to JHH). The feet were large and pink with dark, possibly black claws. The colour of the eye could not be determined from our observation point. The upper parts were uniformly black from head to tail except for a pale supercilium. This began as a narrow line in front of the eye, almost reaching to the bill, and broadened out behind the eye. Its shape seemed to vary, sometimes being arched over the eye and thinning to a point near the back of the head and at others flaring to be broadest near the back of the head. When the bird turned its head it seemed as though there was a ridge of feathers along either side of the crown. When first seen through binoculars the throat and chin appeared black but on closer observation (through the telescope) this area was grey and grizzled. We thought there probably was bare skin around the base of the bill. The remainder of the underparts were white.
We spent a long time looking at the flippers as Slater et al (1986), the only field guide we had with us, implied that the underwing pattern was one of the more reliable field characteristics. The upper-flipper was black with a thin white trailing edge on the inner half of the wing. The leading edge of the wing (not on the upper surface of the flipper) was pale. The under-flipper had a broad solid black leading edge and black tip. The centre of the under flipper and central portion of the trailing edge were white.
Enclosed is a photocopy of the field notes made at the time and a photo taken using a Canon Sureshot looking through the telescope. We also took some slides but these are still being processed.
Identification:
From these observations we decided it was probably a juvenile Erect-crested Penguin Eudyptes sclateri, based primarily on under-flipper pattern plus shape and extent of the supercilium. Royal Penguin E.chrysolophus was ruled out because the throat was dark. Rockhopper Penguin E. chrysocome was ruled out by the shape of the supercilium, which extended in front of the eye on the observed bird. Fiordland Penguin E. pachyrhynchus was ruled out as it has a white leading edge to the flipper where that on the observed bird was black. The choice between Erect-crested Penguin and Snares Penguin E. robustus was more difficult. In Slater et al (1986) both are shown as having a black leading edge and tip to the to the flipper. We decided this bird was probably Erect-crested Penguin because of the extent of black on the flipper’s leading edge (more extensive on Erect-crested than Snares) and the shape of the black/white feathering join at the wing tip (which is shown as more square on Erect-crested than Snares in Slater et al (1986).
Reference to further books at home reinforced this identification. Simpson & Day (1996) show a greater difference in the under flipper pattern than Slater et al (1986) with Snares Penguin having white feathering in the black leading edge and some black streaking in the white trailing edge of the flipper. The Erect-crested Penguin is depicted as having an entirely black leading edge to the flipper and entirely white central portion to the trailing edge. Harrison (1983) shows Snares Penguin with a narrower black leading edge to the flipper and less black at the flipper tip than for Erect-crested Penguin.
We have had no previous experience of any of the crested Eudyptes penguins and relatively little experience of any other penguins having only previously seen three species in the wild: Little Penguin Eudyptula minor, Yellow-eyed Penguin Megadyptes antipodes and Humboldt Penguin Spheniscus humboldti.
Behaviour:
When we first saw the bird it was standing on the beach, below the high-tide line and apparently following the water out. It shuffled forward a few steps but seemed in no hurry to reach the sea. When the water came further up the beach it retreated a little. At the top of the beach is a small sand-dune system; on the seaward side of this and amongst the vegetation were numerous tracks which were probably made by this penguin suggesting it had been present for a while. When we left it was still standing on the beach below the high water mark.
Prevailing weather conditions:
In the preceding week Melbourne had sweltered in 35+oC temperatures with a cool change passing through on Thursday. Another cool change passed through late on Saturday afternoon accompanied by heavy rain and strong winds. On Sunday morning, the day we observed the penguin, winds were SE and force 6. The wind dropped through the day, but the seas were still big at 15:00 when we arrived at the Twelve Apostles.
Further notes:
This penguin was apparently first noted by national park rangers on 20 February 1997 (M. Cameron pers. comm.). We first saw it on 23 February 1997 and broadcast its whereabouts the following day on the Birding-Aus mailing list. Subsequently, it has been seen by many people although it sometimes hides amongst the tussock grass growing on the small dune system at the base of the cliffs. The latest sighting I have is for the evening of 14 March 1997 (R.Atherton on Birding-Aus). Its arrival coincided with that of several other rare penguin species with a King Penguin Aptenodytes patagonicus on Bruny Island, Tasmania, another Erect-crested Penguin near Portland, Victoria and a Royal Penguin E. chrysolophus at Bridgewater, Victoria.
HANZAB lists only six previous records of Erect-crested Penguin in Australia with one each for South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia and three from Victoria of which the last was a live bird at Phillip Island in February 1979 (Marchant & Higgins 1990). Five of the six previous records have also occurred in February and March. If this record, and that of the bird at Portland are accepted, they will constitute only the seventh and eighth documented occurrence of Erect-crested Penguin in Australia.
Harrison, P. 1983. Seabirds. An Identification Guide. Croom Helm.
Marchant, S. & P.J.Higgins (co-ordinators). 1990. Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Volume 1 Ratites to Ducks. Part A, Ratites to Petrels. Oxford.
Simpson, K. & N. Day. 1996. Field Guide to the Birds of Australia. 5th Edition. Viking.
Slater, P., P.Slater & R. Slater. 1986. The Slater Field Guide to Australian Birds. Rigby.
