Northern rockhopper penguin

How it lives

Northern rockhoppers nest in colonies from the shore to cliff sides and sometimes inland. Adults return to the colonies in late July and August. Incubation lasts about 32 to 34 days, and chicks fledge about 9 to 10 weeks after hatching. Adults come back in February to moult. The sources I read do not give a lifespan.

Where it goes

Northern rockhoppers breed on seven islands: five in the Tristan da Cunha group in the South Atlantic and two in the southern Indian Ocean. After breeding and moulting they feed widely at sea. Birds seen elsewhere, such as the Falkland Islands, Australia or South Africa, are wanderers.

We only draw a journey on the map when scientists have tracked it or clearly documented it. For this animal we have not found one yet.

Populations

Estimates put the world population at roughly 190,000 to 240,000 breeding pairs. About 90% breed in the Atlantic, most of them on Gough Island and the Tristan da Cunha islands. A study found the Atlantic population fell by more than 50% between 1975 and 2005, and some sources give a larger fall since the 1950s. Trends differ by island. On Amsterdam Island, avian cholera caused complete breeding failure from 2013 to 2016, and a fire at a main colony has been linked to a further decline. IUCN lists the species as Endangered (2020).