General news

This morning we lost one of the greatest seabird scientists, conservationists and petrel heads of the Southern Hemisphere – Kerry-Jayne Wilson.

What Kerry-Jayne achieved in her lifetime to protect all kinds of seabird species is tremendous – and if you haven’t heard about these achievements, it’s just a sign of how successful she was.

Generally, those conservation projects receive greatest recognition that keep critically endangered species on life support, often with no real perspective for a recovery. Kerry-Jayne’s work, however, focussed on ensuring that species did not even slip into this state of utter dependency of human intervention. Her invention of the fabled burrow flaps – a semi-clandestine operation past NZ notoriously broken permitting system – helped to restore the Chatham petrel from a critically endangered status in the early 2000s to a hugely improved vulnerable status with increasing population trends. She managed to inspire West Coast communities to care for their Westland Petrels and was one of the main instigators within the West Coast Penguin Trust to build miles and miles of penguin fence along sections of highway that were a death trap for countless little penguins.

Kerry-Jayne also was an integral part of the Tawaki Project, both in her support to get the work done but also in the field. And there is one story I will forever remember and take as an inspiration.

In October 2017, a team of three, Kerry-Jayne, Jeff White and I, were tracking tawaki in Harrison Cove, Milford Sound/Piopiotahi with GPS dive loggers. We had three units on penguins, and we were desperately trying to recapture the penguins to take the devices off. One bird –Yellow – had given us the slip for three straight days. While Jeff and I hid on the bushes near the penguins’ main landing site, Kerry-Jayne had assumed the role of the spotter scanning the bay with her binoculars for our bird. She relayed any arrivals to us via radio. We had already gotten back two of our candidates in the late afternoon, but Yellow again was a no show. We waited patiently. Penguins arrived, hopped out of the water, preened, and waddled off into the forest. But not Yellow.

Just after 8pm, my radio crackled, and I heard Kerry-Jayne’s voice saying: “There she is. At the far end of the rocks.”

Far end of the rocks? What was that supposed to mean? It’s far too steep for a bird to get out there. So, I answered: “Say that again? Did you say ‘far side of the rocks’?”

“Yep. Saw her come out there.”

“Impossible! Where? You sure?”

“Pretty sure. But if you stand around questioning my eyesight, she won’t be there much longer.”

I looked at the rocks, basically just a series of near vertical granite slabs that disappeared in the clear waters of the fjord. How was I supposed to get round there? And how on earth did she spot Yellow in there?

“Okay, I’m going”, I said. But when I arrived at the rocks and faced the prospect of having to climb around these slippery monsters with a greater chance of ending up in the water than making it around them I raised my radio and said “Kerry-Jayne, are you really sure? I mean how…”

“Just keep fucking going!”

And so against what I perceived as my better judgement, I started climbing, digging my finger tips into tiny cracks in the rock clinging on for dear life. I’m not a big free-climber, so it was a terrifying experience all around.

I reached a tiny ledge and could not believe my eyes. There was Yellow. And by the looks, Yellow was just as surprised to see me. When I picked the penguin up, she gave me a nasty bite that let me scream out loud in pain, my cry echoing over the still water of the cove.

With the penguin still pinching my hand hard making my eyes water my radio crackled again.

“Fucking told you so.”

Oh yes, you did. Not only did I survive the climb, but we got the bird and our device back. If there’s rocks in the way to your goal, you gotta do what you gotta do.

You just keep fucking going.

We will, Kerry-Jayne. When we sail towards penguins islands in the future, I will keep an eye out for you gliding with your beloved seabirds over the waves of the vast beautiful ocean.

Glide on forever Kerry-Jayne. Your friend, Thomas.

After almost three long years of trying to get research permits allowing us to add Erect-crested and Eastern Rockhopper penguins to the Tawaki Project portfolio, we today received the signed permit documents.

So expect to learn a lot about penguin species many people do not even know they exist!

UPDATE: While we had planned to go in the first Bounty/Antipodes expedition in late 2021, the funders have pulled out of the project. However, we are working on a new funding scheme and are confident that it will happen in 2022!

Thomas caught up with Alison Ballance at the Birds NZ annual conference in Wellington last weekend. They had a chat about the study of the tawaki pre-moult and winter dispersal, the mind boggling results we got, and how we explain the penguins’ behaviour.

Alison published the interview as part of her “Our Changing World” podcast series for Radio New Zealand. You can listen to the episode here or go to the Podcast website over on RNZ.

Our ‘Marathon Penguins’ have made quite a splash! Quite more of a splash than we honestly expected. In the days after the paper was published on PLoS One, news stories started to pop up in media outlets across the world. All of a sudden our ‘tawaki at sea’ photo was featured in articles published in all kinds of languages reaching all kinds of audiences.

Probably we need to stop using the phrase ‘tawaki are one of the least known penguin species in the world’ now!

Below are a selection of news clippings we collected. (There are far too many to put them here!)

Following our Poll last month, we actually sat down to have a closer look at why penguins are actually black and white. And we compiled our results into an 8 minute video. Below there is both the video and an illustrated transcript with links to some of the sources we cite.

Penguins. Surely most people automatically associate that term with flightless, upright waddling and most importantly, black and white birds. We all know them from hundreds of movies, cartoons and documentaries.

And while it is safe to assume that the penguins’ preference for fish as food is common knowledge, it is also surprising that many have at least a vague idea about what the penguins’ black-and-white attire is good for. Blending in an Camouflage.

Really though?

Many, many sources ranging from the popular to scientific spectrum state that the penguin’s black back makes the bird more difficult to spot while at sea. When seen from above they disappear in front of the dark blue of the ocean, while their white bellies help them to blend in when seen against the bright sky from below.

According to this idea, the black-and-white plumage helps penguins to be invisible to predators and prey alike.

But… is that so?

To answer this question, let’s go back to where this idea comes from.

Abbott Handerson Thayer

This gentleman is Abbott Handerson Thayer, a prominent painter in the United States of the late 19^th and early 20^th century. He also had a knack for natural history; he was particularly fascinated by animal colouration.

He described a phenomenon known today as “countershading” which is pretty widespread throughout the animal kingdom. In a paper published 1896 in the ornithological journal Auk, he  pointed out that many animals are

“painted by nature, darkest on those parts which tend to be most lighted by the sky’s light, and vice versa”.

But it wasn’t Thayer who first mentioned countershading in the context of penguins. In 1892, four years before Thayer’s paper came out,  a book titled ‘Animal Colouration’ was published by Frank Evers Beddard, an English zoologist and – weirdly enough – earth worm expert. In it he discusses countershading in animals:

“the white under-side of […] of aquatic birds such as the penguins, are stated […] to be inconspicuous when seen from below and against the bright sky.”

Even though Beddard makes it sound as if it’s not his own idea, it seems his is the first written account of what may be the purpose of countershading in penguins.

And, at a first glance, it seems logical, right? That is, until you really start to think about it.

And funny enough Beddard himself called it straight away when he goes on to say…

“It appears however that this really not the case. If snowflakes […] are watched as they fall from the sky, which is naturally overcast and dull, they appear almost black.”

Let me illustrate what this weird snowflake analogy means for penguins.

Here are a few photos of penguins seen from below.

Swimming penguins seen from below – not so white after all

See where I’m going with this?

Unless you shine a bright light at penguins from the deep, their white bellies will do nothing to prevent them from appearing as a dark shadow.

So what about the black backs? The advantage, according to many books and articles is that the birds are harder to see from above. But, when you look at underwater footage of penguins, they often do not really blend in with the environment that well.

Here are some birds that are true masters of the art of camouflage…

True masters of avian camouflage: the potoo, screeching owl and woodcock

..whereas penguins, even under murky conditions, are still quite visible. To be quite honest… penguins do a far from stellar job when it comes to blending into the marine environment. If they were serious about it, shouldn’t they all blue rather than black and white?

So, I think we should have serious doubts that penguins are black and white primarily for camouflage purposes. Sure, it helps under some circumstances, but that seems more like a by-product. Which brings us back to our initial question.

Diving penguins doing a good job at not blending into the marine environment

Why are penguins black and white?

In 2009, Hannah Rowland from the University of Liverpool compiled a comprehensive review of the function of countershading. And she points out a whole string of factors that may all play a role for the black and white colouration in penguins.

1. Thermoregulation

Dark colours absorb far more light energy than light colours. This means that the black backside of penguins is more efficient in absorbing heat from the sun than their white front. According to Rowland, penguins have been observed to use that to their advantage, by turning their backs to the sun when cold, and their white undersides to the light when hot.

Emperor penguins exposing their bellies (in the sun) or turn their back to the cold (in the shade)

That would also work when the penguins are resting at the surface in often cold water. In Galapagoa penguins, Dee Boersma (in Bernard Stonehouse’s ‘The Biology of Penguins’) observed that penguins floating at the surface had dry backs allowing them to absorb solar radiation. At the same time, she mentions that while “it is tempting to suggest that the penguins can offset loss of heat to the cold water absorbing solar radiation” her data did not allow testing of this hypothesis.

But the same can be said about the camouflage idea – it has ever come under scientific scrutiny.

2. Protection from abrasion

Dark feathers have been shown to be stronger and resist more abrasion and wear. Especially if birds are exposed to airborne particles, having black feathers may make the plumage more resistant to abrasion. While Rowland suggests that this may not apply to penguins, it seems she overlooked the fact that penguins spend long periods on land, often pretty dang exposed to the elements and associated abrasive forces.

Snow storm ripping over a huddle of Emperor penguins

3. Energetic reasons

Coloured feathers are also more energetically costly to produce than white feathers, which could be another reason behind the colour of penguins. With regards to the other explanations for the penguins’ black backs – thermoregulation and protection from abrasion – it makes sense that the penguins’ undersides are white. At sea only the part of the plumage that faces the sun is black. And on land, the penguins generally lay down on their tummies or huddle together backs exposed. So the parts that play no role in absorbing radiation or withstanding the elements don’t need to be black. So why waste energy to generate pigments for the belly feathers?

A yellow-eyed penguin has no energy to waste during the moult

4. Social signalling

It has also been suggested that the black and white colouration of birds may actually be beneficial for recognition of conspecifics. This can be helpful when it comes to locating and capturing prey. For example, if a penguin notices a swirl of black and white bodies zooming around a cloud of something, that may be indicative of that something being quite edible.

African penguins going after a school of sardines

So why are penguins black and white?

Well, quite honestly, we don’t have a definite answer – or an answer that has ever been scientifically tested. However, if anything, it seems that the common assumption that it’s all about camouflage doesn’t have enough legs to stand on. It takes a lot more, not to be seen.

What do catastrophic floods in Peru have to do with tawaki from Jackson Head?

Torrential rainfall in the Andes has wreaked havoc in Peru, killing 72 people and rendering thousands homeless. While many media outlets were quick to pin this catastrophe to the weather phenomenon El Niño, it’s actually not quite that. No yet, anyhow.

The devastating floods just below Machu Picchu, Peru, March 2017

We witnessed the devastating effects El Niño had on tawaki from Jackson Head a mere two years ago. Many chicks died of starvation while their mothers desperately tried to find enough food on long, far-ranging foraging trips. In the end the breeding season turned out to be a pretty bad one with only a quarter of the chicks surviving until fledging. Then, last season, a stoat invasion befell the tawaki population pushing the breeding success down to close to zero.

If we are indeed on the verge of another El Nino, the penguins could be facing a third bad season in a row. So, when confronted with the terrible news from Peru, a visit to NOAA the world’s authority with regards to El Niño was in order. The first sentence of the current El Niño report is a bit of a relief “El Niño neutral conditions continued during February”. But…

…the Peruvian catastrophe shows all the hallmarks of an El Niño with much higher ocean temperatures than normal. What keeps it from qualifying as El Niño is that these warmer temperatures are offset by cooler waters further west along the equator. Some scientists have therefore dubbed the situation a ‘coastal El Niño’. And not only that. Further down the NOAA report it reads that after the March-May period “there are increasing odds for El Niño toward the second half of 2017 (50-55% chance)”.

Sea surface temperatures along the eastern pacific equatorial area in March 2017

If the severity of the ‘coastal El Niño’ at play in Peru now is an indication for what might happen towards the end of this year, the Jackson Head tawaki have to brace themselves for another tough season.

“Another El Niño on the horizon? Oh brother…”

Well, here’s a little secret for anyone who’s planning to watch the upcoming next movie in the Alien franchise. The scene pictured below is not on an alien planet – it’s Milford Sound. And there are two tawaki breeding colonies in the frame, Sinbad Gully and Harrison Cove. The latter one, of course, is our main Fiordland study site.

A space ship explodes in Milford Sound

So a great opportunity to let the person sitting next to you know of your insider knowledge and tell them about the Tawaki Project. (Perhaps you may want to wait until the movie is over before spreading the word about our work.)

Doing research is one thing, sharing the knowledge you’ve gained another. Far too often, scientific results are published in scientific journals that nobody reads or has access to. As much as we try to spread the word about the fantastic creatures that tawaki – and other NZ penguin species are – a lot of our time is used up with data analysis, writing reports and trying to secure funding for upcoming field seasons. But this time we were incredibly lucky to share our experiences with two professional story tellers. Richard Robinson‘s incredible photographs capture the beauty of our flippered friends and Bill Morris‘ fantastic account about penguins in New Zealand will no doubt help to raise much needed awareness for a seabird that in our country is taken for granted and, as a result, often underappreciated.

Go and support their work! Buy the latest issue of New Zealand Geographic!

The cover of the Jan-Feb 2017 issue of New Zealand Geographic

The Tawaki Project’s Fiordland season wrapped up in the current issue of the Advocate South (also known as Fiordland Advocate).

In the face of environmental change, the tawaki is at last receiving the scientific attention needed to protect one of the world’s rarest penguin species.

Many New Zealanders know the little blue penguins that live and breed along most of our mainland coastlines, and we hold the yellow-eyed penguin that adorns our $5 bill in our hands every day. But faced with a photo of a Fiordland crested penguin/tawaki, most of us likely wouldn’t recognise it as another native species. Tawaki belong to the group of crested penguins that boast striking yellow feathers above their eyes. Unfortunately, most crested penguin populations have been declining during the last century, and tawaki do not seem to be an exception. The population is estimated to range between 5,000 and 6,000 birds, and at some sites their numbers are believed to have declined by as much as 30 percent over just 10 years.

But there is considerable uncertainty about the numbers. Unlike other crested penguins, who breed in densely packed colonies, tawaki breed in scattered colonies, mostly in forests along the rugged coastlines of South Westland, Fiordland, Stewart Island/Rakiura and outlying islands. They are true forest penguins that epitomise the wrongness of the penguins-on-ice stereotype. It also means that it is no mean feat finding – and counting – these penguins in the remote and wild areas they inhabit.

There be tawaki – remote coastlines of South Westland

Their nesting habitat ranges from sea level to 100m elevation, and they like to breed in impenetrable vegetation. Some pairs have even been found breeding in sea caves with access only through submerged entrances. This means it is next to impossible to get accurate estimates of tawaki populations throughout their entire range.

In 2014, Robin Long surveyed a 60km stretch of coastline between Haast and Milford Sound to identify and accurately census tawaki breeding colonies in the area. She found at least 870 pairs – a stark contrast to the 150 pairs reported in a 1994 survey. However, this likely represents an underestimate in the earlier census rather than an increase in actual penguin numbers. By repeating her 2014 survey during the next 10 years, Robin will record changes in penguin numbers, which will be used to extrapolate trends of the entire tawaki population.

Determining tawaki population size and trends is one thing. Coming up with conservation measures to ensure the survival of the species is another. It is equally important to determine which key threats affect the penguins and what options we have to mitigate these threats.

Tawaki Chicks. Photo: Robin Long

Tawaki breed on land but find their food at sea. On land, introduced predators – stoats, possums and dogs – may prey on the penguins and their offspring, while human activities can disturb breeding birds and cause them to abandon sites. At sea, rising ocean temperatures probably disrupt prey availability, fisheries may compete for resources or result in accidental bycatch, and pollution in the wake of proposed oil exploration could also become a major problem for the tawaki.

To date, very little is known about tawaki ecology. For decades, the inaccessibility of their breeding sites was a major barrier for scientific investigation. However, by using new technologies to observe and track the penguins, two research groups from the West Coast Penguin Trust and Otago University have joined forces to fill in significant gaps in our knowledge about the species.

Using motion-sensing cameras at nest sites, the trust is carrying out a study to determine the impact of introduced predators on tawaki. In the past two years, thousands of videos have been recorded. Although most video clips show penguins preening or gathering nest material, occasionally intruders – stoats, possums and rats – enter the scene. While it appears that possums and rats keep a respectful distance from the breeding birds, stoat attacks on chicks caused some monitored nests to fail.

The Tawaki Project is studying the penguins’ marine biology. Using miniaturised GPS dive loggers, Otago University researchers Thomas Mattern and Ursula Ellenberg study tawaki’s foraging ranges and diving behaviour. First results indicate that climate substantially influences the birds’ foraging success, but apparently this depends largely on the region in which the penguins breed. During the strong 2015 El Niño, tawaki from Jackson Head, Haast, had to travel hundreds of kilometres to find food for their chicks while others in Milford Sound could obtain ample food without leaving the fiord.

Both projects will significantly expand our knowledge of tawaki and provide much needed information for fact-based management of New Zealand’s unique and enigmatic forest penguin. To find out more, see www.tawaki-project.org and www.bluepenguin.org.nz.

The Tawaki Project in the Winter 2016 edition of Forest & Bird Magazine