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Southern Rockhopper Penguin

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Birds

          i(Southern) Rockhopper Penguin

                             Conservation status

   Vulnerable (VU)
            Scientific classification

   Kingdom: Animalia
   Phylum:  Chordata
   Class:   Aves
   Order:   Sphenisciformes
   Family:  Spheniscidae
   Genus:   Eudyptes
   Species: E. chrysocome

                                Binomial name

   Eudyptes chrysocome
   Forster, 1781

   The Southern Rockhopper Penguin or just Rockhopper Penguin, Eudyptes
   chrysocome, is a species of penguin closely related to the Macaroni
   Penguin.

   This is the smallest yellow-crested, black-and-white penguin, reaching
   a length of 55 cm. It has slate-grey upperparts and a straight, bright
   yellow eyebrow ending in long yellowish plumes projecting sideways
   behind a red eye. It breeds in colonies, from sea-level to cliff-tops,
   and sometimes inland. It feeds on krill, squid, octopus, fish,
   molluscs, plankton, cuttlefish and crustaceans.

   The Rockhopper Penguins have a global population of about 3.5 million
   pairs. The nominate subspecies chrysocome breeds on the Falkland
   Islands, and on islands off Argentina and southern Chile. The
   subspecies moseleyi, possibly a distinct species (as Northern
   Rockhopper Penguin, E. moseleyi) breeds on islands in Tristan da Cunha,
   and Amsterdam and St Paul Islands. The subspecies filholi breeds on the
   Prince Edward Islands, the Crozet Islands, the Kerguelen Islands, Heard
   Island, Macquarie Island, and Campbell, New Zealand and Antipodes
   Islands.

   The status of this species is vulnerable due to a fall of 24% in its
   population in the last thirty years.

   As their name suggests, they spend their time hopping over rocks, and
   the explorers who discovered them were amused to see the penguins
   jumping all over the place.

   The scientific name for the Rockhopper penguin is sometimes given as
   Eudyptes crestatus.
   Rockhopper Penguin in Edinburgh Zoo.
   Enlarge
   Rockhopper Penguin in Edinburgh Zoo.

Trivia

   The characters Ivan and Tobi from the Konami video game Sexy Parodius
   are actually a pair of Rockhoppers.

   The character Rocco in "The Pebble and the Penguin," is most likely a
   Rockhopper.

   The cover of the Fleetwood Mac album Penguin features a Rockhopper. The
   penguin subsequently became Fleetwood Mac's mascot.

   In the Warner Brothers animated film, Happy Feet, the character
   "Lovelace" is a Rockhopper.

   The main character in the upcoming film Surf's Up appears to be a
   Rockhopper.
   Retrieved from "
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Rockhopper_Penguin"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
