Brilpikkewyn – Algoa Bay

Brilpikkewyn (14)

Image by Pixlab.co.za

Alternative Names:
English (Rob 6): Jackass Penguin
English (Rob 7): African Penguin
English: African Penguin
German: Brillenpinguin
French: Manchot du Cap
Indigenous: Inguza(X),Unombombiya(X),
Scientific Explained:
demersus: Latin, sunk or submerged.
spheniscus: diminutive of Greek sph(n, a wedge.
Measurements: Length about 60 cm; total length of flipper (72) 173-186-206; tarsus 25; whole foot (76) 102-116-128; culmen (41 male) 57-60,5-65, (25 female) 51,5-55,5-58,5. Weight (103) 2125-2946-3675 g.
Bare Parts: Iris hazel; skin above eye pink; bill black with pale horn band behind tip; legs and feet black, variably blotched pink.
Identification: Size smallish; black above, white below; chin and face patch black, separated from crown by broad white band; narrow black band across chest and down flanks toward legs; sometimes narrower partial or complete black neck band present. Immature: Sooty black with white chest and belly.
Voice: Loud donkey-like braying at breeding grounds, mainly at night; also honks and growls; usually silent at sea, but calls in fog or at night.
Distribution: Sw coastal regions and islands of s Africa, especially W coast; vagrant to KwaZulu-Natal and Mozambique. Breeds from Sylvia Hill, Namibia, to Bird Island, Algoa Bay; nonbreeding birds move as far N as Gabon on W coast and Inhaca Island on E coast. Half of breeding population on few offshore islands: Ichaboe, Mercury, Possession, Dassen, Dyer and St Croix.
Status: Common but severely reduced in numbers by commercial overfishing and oil pollution; in need of conservation; estimated breeding population 1978-1979 was 133 600 birds. Resident. Red data book status globally (and in S Africa): Vulnerable.
Habitat: Marine.
Habits: Typical penguin, foraging underwater at sea; usually departs at dawn, returns at dusk, though foraging trips last from 7-172 hours (mean 45 hours); forages mainly around midday, seldom late afternoon, mostly within 12 km of land, but up to 75 km from nesting island; mean speed during foraging by day is 5,3 km/hour; mean speed when returning home is 6,9 km/hour (maximum cruising speed is 17,8 km/hour). Comes to land to roost and breed. Occasionally washed up on mainland beaches. Walks with waddling gait on land.
Food: Fish (mainly Anchovy and Pelagic Goby), squid, octopus.
Breeding: Season: Almost throughout year, but mainly in summer; peaks in November-December; second peak in June on Dassen Island. Colonial on offshore islands. Breeds about every 10,5 months. Nest: Pad of feathers and plant material in burrow, between boulders or against bank of earth; sometimes hollow in guano or debris with little or no lining. Clutch: (70) 2 eggs; laying interval (11) 2-3-4 days. Eggs: White, rather rounded; measure (219) 68,1 x 52,1 (43-81 x 34,2-56,3); weigh (136) 75-105,8-132 g. Incubation: (19) 36-37,7-41 days by both sexes; changeover every 24 hours. Nestling: (112) 64-78,7-105 days; weighs (32) 54-71,7-81 g at hatching.
Ref. Eggleton, P. & Siegfried, W.R. 1979. Ostrich 50:139-167.
Frost, P.G.H., Siegfried, W.R. & Burger, A.E. 1976. J. Zool., Lond. 179:165-187.
Shelton, P.A., Crawford, R.J.M., Cooper, J. & Brooke, R.K. 1984. S. Afr. J. mar. Sci. 2:217-257.
Williams, A.J. & Cooper, J. 1984. Proc. 5th Pan-Afr. Orn. Congr.:841-853.