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Marine Life Encyclopedia

Seabirds

Humboldt Penguin

Spheniscus humboldti

Distribution

Restricted to the coasts of Peru and Chile

ECOSYSTEM/HABITAT

Nest on rocky shores; feed on rocky reefs and in surrounding currents

FEEDING HABITS

Foraging predator

TAXONOMY

Order Sphenisciformes (penguins), Family Spheniscidae (penguins)

This species is able to survive so close to the equator because of the biogeography of the western coast of South America. Cold, productive water travels from Antarctica via the Humboldt Current (named for the same explorer), which flows along this species’ entire distribution. The Humboldt penguin is closely related to the other temperate penguins and more distantly related to the Antarctic penguins.

Humboldt penguins breed year round and may raise more than one chick or clutch of chicks during a 12-month period. They lay their eggs in burrows that they dig out of the thick layers of guano (sea bird droppings) that cover the coastline throughout their range. While one parent feeds, the other parent guards the nest.  Incubation takes longer than one month. Humboldt penguins form strong pair bonds and remain with the same partner for their entire lives. They are foraging predators that primarily eat small fishes. They forage relatively close their nests, as they are prey for the large marine predators of the area, namely sharks, fur seals, and sea lions. Like all penguins, Humboldt penguins provide significant parental care for both the eggs and the chicks.

Scientists consider the Humboldt penguin to be vulnerable to extinction. Natural climate variation, human-induced changes to Earth’s climate system, and overfishing of their preferred prey species (e.g., Peruvian anchoveta) all contribute to this finding. The cyclical, large-scale climate phenomenon known as El Niño significantly reduces the amount of food available to Humboldt penguins. In severe cases, these events can lead to starvation of the adults. While El Niño is a natural phenomenon, there is some growing evidence that human activities acting on the climate system as a whole may increase the severity or frequency of El Niño events. Direct capture – for human consumption or for use as fish bait – and accidental capture in fishing gear targeting other species have also both been threats to this species, even though it is offered legal protection throughout its range. Finally, historic (and ongoing) mining of guano for use in fertilizers and other products destroys Humboldt penguins’ burrows and alter their preferred breeding sites. Continuing scientific research and conservation efforts are both vital to ensure that decreasing population trends are reversed.

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Additional Resources:

IUCN Red List

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