Humboldt penguin

Humboldt penguins live on rocky shores and islands in Peru and Chile.

The sea there is cold and full of fish.

Humboldt penguins live along the Pacific coast of South America, from northern Peru to southern Chile. They nest on islands and rocky stretches of coast.

The cold Humboldt Current flows along this coast. Its water is cold and rich in nutrients, and the penguins hunt the schools of small fish that live there. After the yearly moult, some penguins swim hundreds of kilometers north.

IUCN describes the range as the coastal zone from Isla Foca (5°12'S) in Peru to Isla Guafo (43°32'S) in Chile, with at least 49 breeding sites between Punta Aguja in Peru and Isla Metalqui in Chile; key colonies include Punta San Juan and Isla Santa Rosa in Peru and Pan de Azúcar, Chañaral, Choros, Tilgo and Pájaros Island in Chile. Nests lie up to 80 meters above sea level. A single bird reached Alaska, probably carried by a boat.

After the January-February moult, some birds migrate: tracked penguins from Pan de Azúcar went over 600 kilometers north and birds from Puñihuil over 1,000 kilometers north, and Peruvian birds from Punta San Juan have been tracked south as far as Chile's Magallanes Region (IUCN).

Humboldt penguins eat small fish, like anchovies and sardines.

They also eat some squid.

Humboldt penguins hunt schools of fish in the open sea. They eat anchovies, herring, sardines, silversides, garfish and other fish, and some squid. What they eat depends on where they live: penguins in northern Chile ate almost only garfish, while those in central Chile preferred anchovies, pilchards and squid.

Most of their dives are short and shallow, within 30 meters of the surface.

IUCN lists Peruvian anchovy, Araucanian herring, silverside, common hake, Inca scad, garfish and South American pilchard, plus the squids Dosidicus gigas and Loligo gahi; Animal Diversity Web notes that northern Chilean birds ate almost only garfish while central Chilean birds preferred anchovy, pilchard and squid, probably reflecting local prey availability.

The species depends on predictable food in coastal waters near the colonies. Chick-rearing adults forage within 20 to 35 kilometers of the colony, and incubating birds up to 72 kilometers. Dives are typically short and shallow, within 30 meters; the deepest recorded at Isla Pan de Azúcar was 53 meters (IUCN).

Humboldt penguins live in big groups called colonies.

A penguin knows its partner by its voice.

Humboldt penguins live in large colonies and are very social, except when they are out fishing. Pairs usually stay together, and partners recognize each other in the crowd by their calls.

At sea, sharks, fur seals and sea lions hunt them. On land, rats, foxes, dogs, cats, snakes and gulls can raid the nests.

Animal Diversity Web (2015) describes Humboldt penguins as colonial and highly social except while foraging, and generally monogamous, with partners recognized by distinct calls. Unpaired males sometimes try to take over an established pair's nest, which can be risky for the intruder; such takeovers may become more common after El Niño food shortages, which hit females hardest and leave more males than females.

Predators at sea are sharks, fur seals and sea lions. IUCN reports that introduced rats take unattended eggs in north and central Chile and chicks at Punta San Juan, feral dogs have killed adults on one Chilean island, native culpeo foxes take many birds at some Peruvian colonies, and gulls and vultures take eggs and chicks.

Humboldt penguins need help.

People took away the guano they nest in. Now some of their islands are protected.

Humboldt penguins are listed as Vulnerable. Long ago there were hundreds of thousands of them. From the 1800s, people dug up the guano on their nesting islands to use as fertilizer, which took away the penguins' nesting places. In 2017 there were at most about 23,800 grown-up Humboldt penguins.

Today, fishing nets, fishing that takes their food, El Niño years with few fish, rats and dogs, oil spills and visitors who disturb the nests are dangers. Peru and Chile monitor the colonies, and Peru has made reserves that protect guano islands and the sea around them.

BirdLife International assessed Spheniscus humboldti as Vulnerable (criteria A2bcde+3bcde+4bcde) for the IUCN Red List (assessed 21 August 2020, published 2020): about 23,800 mature individuals at most (5,100 breeding pairs in Chile in 2017 plus 13,600 moulting birds counted in Peru), decreasing. The population, once in the 'hundreds of thousands', fell sharply from the mid-1800s with guano harvesting, and the 1982-83 El Niño cut counts from 16,000-20,000 to 5,000-6,000 birds, whether by death or dispersal is unclear.

IUCN names artisanal gillnets, industrial fishing of anchovies and sardines, El Niño, introduced predators, disturbance, oil spills, coal-fired power stations, mining proposals and an approved industrial port. Peru created a national reserve system of guano islands and capes in 2010 and the San Fernando National Reserve in 2011; rats are being removed at Punta San Juan, rabbits were eradicated from Isla Choros, Chile has a national action plan (2016), and the Saint Louis Zoo, which has worked to help Humboldt penguins in Peru for over 20 years, supports research staff at Punta San Juan.