New Zealand Journal of Zoology abstracts
Z00022Received and accepted 17 July 2000
Blue penguin (Eudyptula minor) nest distribution and breeding success on
Otago Peninsula, 1992 to 1998
LYNDON PERRIMAN
Department of Conservation
P.O. Box 5244, Moray Place
Dunedin, New Zealand
HARALD STEEN
Department of Zoology
University of Otago
P.O. Box 56
Dunedin, New Zealand
Abstract Annual counts of nests with eggs or chicks (known
nests) were made at blue penguin (
Eudyptula minor) breeding sites on the
Otago Peninsula in each November from 1994 to 1997. Although the population has
doubled to an estimated 600 known nests over this period, the number of
breeding sites on the Otago Peninsula has reduced since the 1970s. Breeding
success at three areas at Taiaroa Head were monitored by regular nest checks in
the breeding season from 1992 to 1998. At Taiaroa Head reproductive success
ranged from 41 to 78% at the three sites during the seven-year study and was
generally higher for pairs nesting in nest boxes than for those in burrows. The
percentage of breeding pairs that laid a second clutch after fledging at least
one chick from their first clutch (double brooded) varied between seasons
(0-48%) and was correlated with the date of the onset of breeding. Egg loss,
possibly through predation by Norway rats (
Rattus norvegicus),
influenced the significantly lower reproductive success at one area (Area A) at
Taiaroa Head during the 1996 season.
Keywords blue penguin; Eudyptula minor; Otago
Peninsula; Taiaroa Head; breeding; survey; distribution; double brooding; nest
box
New Zealand Journal of Zoology, 2000, Vol. 27: 277-289
0301-4223/00/2704-0277 $7.00/0 (c) The Royal Society of New
Zealand 2000
PDF file of entire paper: medium quality (463K); (scanned from paper original: notes about this process)
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