Humboldt Penguin
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| Humboldt Penguin Conservation status: Vulnerable | ||||||||||||||
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| Missing image Humboldtpinguin.jpg Humboldt Penguin | ||||||||||||||
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| Spheniscus humboldti Meyen, 1834 |
The Humboldt Penguin (Spheniscus humboldti) is a South American penguin, breeding in coastal Peru and Chile. Its nearest relatives are the African Penguin, the Magellanic Penguin and the Galapagos Penguin.
Humboldt Penguins are medium-sized, black and white penguins, growing to 53 cm tall. They have a black head with a white border running from behind the eye, around the black ear-coverts and chin, to join on the throat. They have blackish-grey upperparts and whitish underparts, with a black breast-band extending down the flanks to the thigh. They have a fleshy-pink base to the bill. Juveniles have dark heads and no breast-band.
This penguin nests on islands and rocky coasts, burrowing holes in guano and sometimes using scrapes or caves.
The current status of this penguin is vulnerable, due to a declining population caused in part by over-fishing. Historically it was the victim of guano over-exploitation.
External link
- Humboldt penguins from the International Penguin Conservation Web Site (http://www.penguins.cl/humboldt-penguins.htm)
- The Humbolt Penguin Colonies at Chanaral Island, Chile (http://www.planetavivo.org/english/ResearchPrograms/ChanaralIsland/SlideShows/HumboldtPenguin/PinguinoHumboldt1.html)
- Chanaral Island: the biggest Humboldt Penguin Colony in the world (http://www.planetavivo.org/english/ResearchPrograms/ChanaralIsland/SlideShows/ChanaralIsland/LaIslaChanaral1.html)de:Humboldt-Pinguin
it:Spheniscus humboldti nl:Humboldt-pinguïn ja:フンボルトペンギン
Notes
If held in a certain way they can look like turtles, or tortises without shells. They are quite similar to a lot of amphibians.