Researchers in New Zealand have discovered that the population of the elusive forest-dwelling tawaki, or Fiordland crested penguin, is roughly three times larger than earlier surveys suggested. The finding comes from the Tawaki Project, which has mapped 1,200 nests across nine fjords in the past 12 years, including 93 nests on two islands in Fiordland during September.
Research team tracks penguin with multiple tunnels
The team, led by Dr Thomas Mattern, a research fellow at the University of Otago and chair of the Tawaki Project, spent four days trying to recapture a female penguin on Eleanor Island to retrieve data from its tagging device. The bird had dug multiple tunnels to elude the researchers.
“It took us about four days to recapture that bird,” Mattern said. “We plugged all the holes around the nest so that it could not escape, until we finally could recover that device.”
Unique behaviours of the 'jungle penguin'
Until the volunteer project was founded in 2014 by Mattern and his wife Ursula Ellenberg, almost nothing was known about the Fiordland tawaki, which stands half a metre tall and has prominent yellow eyebrows. Unlike most penguins, tawaki do not breed in colonies, preferring single burrows deep in dense rainforest, sometimes at high elevations. They are unique among penguins because they nest exclusively in forests, Mattern said, describing them as “proper jungle penguins”.
Their hunting habits are also unusual, with some groups fishing entirely within the fjords while others hunt in the ocean. “When you think you have them nailed down, you go to a different fjord, and they show behaviour that just does not conform to any of the ideas you have developed so far,” Mattern said.
Baffling feeding journey and population status
Tawaki are also known for their baffling journey to feed before their annual “catastrophic moult”, when they shed and replace all their feathers in one go. Despite an abundance of food around the fjords in December, tawaki undertake a 5,000 to 7,000km return trip to the sub-Antarctic region to feed. “These emaciated tawaki, that have just said goodbye to their chicks, hop in the water and travel halfway to Antarctica, which makes absolutely zero sense because there should be more than enough food in the water just outside their breeding area,” Mattern said. “They are running a marathon, while trying to gain weight.”
Mattern believes tawaki are likely acting on ancient instinct, heading to grounds where all other crested penguin species feed. The project is funded by public donations and international grants, supported by local volunteers such as Richard Abernathy, owner of tourism company Fiordland Expeditions, who donates his boat and time to the expedition. “Since 2018, we’ve been chasing penguins all over Fiordland,” said Abernathy, whose ability to find nests in surprising places has earned him the nickname “sniffer dog”.
In 2020, the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List moved tawaki up in status from “vulnerable” to “near-threatened” because researchers were able to develop a better picture of their populations, estimated to be in the region of 12,000 to 15,000 mature birds. Risks remain, including from commercial fishing practices. “[We’re] looking at survival rates … to determine whether the population is stable,” Mattern said. “If they’re going down, then we need to kick into gear to improve the situation for them.”
