Yellow-eyed penguin

How it lives

Hoiho nest on land, in coastal forest, scrub, pasture and cliff areas, out of sight of other pairs. They lay two eggs in September. Incubation takes 39 to 51 days, the most variable among penguins, and chicks fledge after about 106 days. Birds usually leave the nest for the sea early in the morning and return in late afternoon or early evening. They mostly hunt on or near the seabed. Most dives are around 40 to 120 m, and deeper dives of 161 to 240 m are reported, depending on the source. They moult between February and April, when they are especially vulnerable to disturbance. Some live beyond 20 years.

Where it goes

Yellow-eyed penguins stay in New Zealand waters. While breeding they feed on the shelf about 2 to 25 km offshore. The Department of Conservation describes two separate populations, a northern one on the South Island, Banks Peninsula and Stewart Island and a southern one on the Auckland and Campbell Islands, with little movement between them.

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 for the whole species differ. The Department of Conservation gives 4,000 to 5,000 mature individuals (2019), and NZ Birds Online gives 2,600 to 3,000, mostly on the subantarctic islands. The northern mainland and Rakiura population fell from 739 nests in 2008/09 to 143 in 2024/25, about 80%, and the Department says hoiho could be locally extinct on the mainland within two decades without change. The southern population was estimated at 570 breeding pairs on the Auckland Islands in 2017 and looks more stable, but Campbell Island was last surveyed in 1992. The species is listed as Endangered by the IUCN and as Nationally Endangered in New Zealand.