Binghamton Zoo Animals

Blackfooted Penguin, (African Penguin)

(Spheniscus demersus)
Order: Sphenisciformes
Family: Spheniscidae
Genus: Spheniscus
Species: Spheniscus demersus

HABITAT AND RANGE: The Blackfooted penguin inhabits 16 islands of the coast of south and southwestern Africa. Some colonies are in excess of 5 million birds, and are very important commercially for the guano they produce. These penguins live in warm climates and prefer their water temperature 5 to 20 degrees Celsius (40 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit).

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS: The Blackfooted penguin has a mean weight of 2.9 kg (approximately 6 lbs.), and a mean height of 70 cm (24 in.). A thick covering of overlapping short feathers insulates them from the cold. They normally wear the single black and white throat bars of the Peruvian penguin, but have a much broader white band on the cheeks and are slightly smaller. A broad white band, commencing at the base of the bill, runs above the eye, and continues round the cheeks, broadening over the upper breast. Under parts are white with a narrow black band across the chest, extending down each side of the body to the feet. Eyes have an iris dark brown with a distinct white orbital ring. They have a black bill with a white band across both mandibles towards the tip. The legs and feet are black. A pink patch of bare skin around the eyes provides assistance in heat dispersal when the bird leaves the cold ocean water for the much warmer shore. The molt of the Blackfooted penguin lasts 13-35 days, during which time they lose up to 40% of their body weight.

ADAPTATIONS: Blackfooted penguins are also called Jackass penguins due to their donkey-like braying sound. This sound allows individuals to identify one another in a large breeding colony. They swim underwater using their flipper-like wings and webbed feet to move rapidly through the water, and they leap up out of the water as part of their aquatic exercises. On land, they stand erect and waddle about, even climbing slopes when necessity or curiosity makes it essential.

DIET: Penguins feed mainly on fish and crustaceans.

REPRODUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT: Blackfooted penguins breed on islands off the southern and southwestern coasts of Africa in large breeding colonies, occasionally breeding on mainland coasts. One or two eggs are laid and incubation lasts about 35 days. They breed annually on bare ground, usually digging in under rocks or shale, or seeking shelter under sparse vegetation. They have a unique courtship display, the male dancing or shuffling round the female, periodically touching her bill. The display culminates with an almost human-like embrace when the two birds stand breast to breast, enfolding each other with their flippers, and with their bills interlocked. They nest mostly in burrows which they excavate themselves. This protects them from the sun and heat and also protects the eggs from predators. The average life expectancy is 25 years.

STATUS IN WILD: Predators of the Blackfooted penguin include Dominican gulls, Sacred Ibis, skua (a gull-like bird), octopus, and sharks. This species is seriously threatened by oil escaping from tankers, egg-cropping, and the decline of the pilchard population which they depend on for food. The Blackfooted penguins are known to have serious reduction in numbers during the last three decades, and remain one of the least studied of all penguins. A greater then 90% reduction has occurred in the population in this century due to human impact. The last census of the species counted only 150,000 birds. Approximately seven hundred of these 150,000 birds are located in U.S. zoos.