Tone (1970) 16: 115-1 19. 115

A L I T T L E B L U E P E N G U I N IN C A P T I V I T Y

by Jenni fer J . Bedford . *

In sp i te of many years of s tudy , very l i t t l e i s known of the natural history and behaviour of some of our fami l iar vertebrates. T h e enormous store of new information gained by L a c k (1939) on robins , N e a l (1948) on badgers, and the more deta i led f indings of Lorenz (1952) and Tinbergen (1965) shows how much can be gained by care fu l observation and recording. Hinde ' s (1966) statement that " a descr ip t ive account of the ways in w h i c h behaviour changes with age might seem to be a necessary preparation for an a n a l y s i s of the factors which influence these changes , but in fact rea l ly deta i led descr ipt ions of the development of behaviour over even a s m a l l part of the l i fe span are rather r a r e . " i s surpr i s ing ly only too true. In a world where s c i ence appears a l l - k n o w i n g and a l l -powerful it seems strange to f ind the large gaps revealed by a s k i n g s imple quest ions .

T h i s was brought home to us recently when we found a L i t t l e B l u e Penguin (Eudyptula minor novaehollandiae) washed up exhausted in the sur f just south of Kawerua . It s t i l l had young down feathers and was waterlogged. We brought it back to A u c k l a n d , fed i t , and hoped to f ind whether it could be brought back to a healthy state and re leased . It soon became apparent that s imple questions could not be answered. F o r instance , how o i l y should its feathers be? How wet should it get: should only the outer layer of feathers get wet and the inner down remain dry or should the water run off the bird as it does off a c l e a n plate of g lass? Does the mother teach it to feed or is feeding behaviour innate? W i l l i t , i f reared by humans, attach i t se l f to them whenever it sees one? W i l l it attempt to return to where it was fed? (Instances have been known where a l i t t l e blue penguin has walked severa l miles to return to its own nest ing s i t e ( C a s s i e , 1970 — pers. comm.)). These bas ic questions about behaviour could not be answered from the recorded knowledge — spoken or written - in New Zea land ornithology or behaviour. We found out by t r i a l and error and a l i t t l e luck .

While keeping the penguin for two weeks unt i l we felt that it would be able to fend for i t se l f when let go, it passed through a stage in its development in which it matured q u i c k l y and developed in a sense from being a c h i c k to a young adult .

Our penguin was apparently one of the September/October c h i c k s from last year (1969) a n d was about three months o ld . It had severa l large bird t i c k s on its c h i n and head but they f e l l off after a couple of days once they were fu l l y gorged and d is tended . They were then about a

* Department of Zoology, University of Auckland.

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•A

FIG. I: The Little Blue Penguin.

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quarter to a third of an inch long. Not unt i l s evera l days later d id we d iscover that there were about a dozen of these on the inside of the b i l l and throat — some dead and some a l i v e . Once these were removed the penguin seemed to be much happier; it ate a lot more and showed many s igns of becoming healthier and regaining strength. Obv ious ly s w a l l o w ­ing had been both di f f i cult and uncomfortable for i t . It a l s o had many fleas and mites which were probably acquired in the burrow during its terrestr ia l l i fe as a young c h i c k .

We fed it on f ish ba i t , s m a l l f i s h , and shr imps ; it would take no old or tainted f i sh nor s l imy e e l s . A t f irst our bird had to be force-fed: its legs and b e l l y held f i rmly , i t s f l ippers out of the way , its b i l l held wide open; the f i sh was then forced w e l l down its throat. T h e tongue is " b a r b e d " so that it is l i k e a one way conveyor belt and the f i sh can only go down. Normally penguins feed and swal l ow under water which may be why this one was s o c lumsy when handl ing i ts food on land . The bird ate a lot — up to two large tarak ih i f i l l e t s a day — and put on weight q u i c k l y . Only once did it regurgitate its food, which was then a l l soft but undigested presumably as it had only been stored in the crop. On that occas ion it a l s o lost much weight which it very q u i c k l y regained in about a day. The penguin would make s h r i l l t r i l l i n g noises and quiver its b i l l when it was hungry. Perhaps under natural condit ions this a c t i v i t y attracts the attention of the parent. A s the bird became older i t would accept only large pieces of f i sh and f i n a l l y it would grab the f i sh i n the t ip of its b i l l and f l ip it back down its throat. T h i s change happened very q u i c k l y in one or two days ; and after this the bird became more aggres­s i v e . It seemed quite obvious to us that feeding would not be learnt from the mother. T h i s was further borne out in the way it would ca t ch i n s e c t s . The penguin would fo l low moving f l ies very c l o s e l y wi th i ts eyes , chase them around, snapping inaccurately at them, but f i n a l l y ca t ch ing them. It improved with pract i ce .

Movements of the penguin on land looked c lumsy and c o m i c a l but were in fact ag i l e and e f f i c ient . It would run very fast w i th its f l ippers he ld out for balance and learnt to assoc iate human legs w i th food. It would fo l low " q u a c k i n g " after the f irst pair of legs it saw . A s it became older and stronger it would watch where it was go ing and not tumble down steps but would care fu l ly jump down. One remarkable fact was that it would jump up a step almost equa l to its own height from standing and do th is three or four times in s u c c e s s i o n .

T h e penguin d id not appear to be necessar i l y nocturnal . Although some authors (O l iver , 1930; R i c h d a l e , 1957) say the penguin is not no i sy , this one made a variety of no i ses : a baby t r i l l i n g noise in response to

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food, a more adult quack, a sobbing sound at the back of its throat, and later a more aggress ive h i s s . When rest ing it would l ie flat on its be l l y and seemed to resent being conf ined. On the other hand it would a lways run under some object for protection and would s i t peering watchful ly from a safe p lace .

Penguins can be seen to best advantage in the water where they are very beauti ful and a g i l e . On the surface they w i l l paddle about with the f l ippers hardly moving and the feet employed for s teer ing . A s our bird became older it spent more time in the water. Its down and the wax around the new q u i l l s was lost . A t the same time, as the feathers were o i led more, the water f e l l readi ly from its back. Adul t s during moulting tend to stay out of the water unt i l the new feathers are fu l ly o i led and the same seems true of the young b i rd . Our bird would probably have remained much longer in i ts nest ing burrow, from which it was perhaps prematurely e jected .

With growing fami l iar i ty with the water, the penguin would s c u l l round whi le per i od i ca l l y r o l l ing on i ts s i d e , patt ing and s p l a s h i n g i ts under s ide with one of i ts f l ippers . It appeared a l s o to inflate and deflate i t se l f to contro l its buoyancy. During d i v i n g , i ts shape — apparently so c o m i c a l on land — became smoothly s tream-l ined , enabl ing the bird to cut through the water with ease . It was then propelled mainly by broad strokes of i t s f l ippers , with the feet held re laxed and t r a i l i n g behind. A i r would be expel led from the b i l l at the beginning of a d ive , wi th apparent reduction in buoyancy. B o t h in fresh and sa l t water, the bird would drink a lot and would defaecate frequently, as it did too often on land . The bird seemed to d i s l i k e being sp lashed on the head with water. It was reluctant to dive into s t i l l water, but as soon as it was released it immediately turned and dived through the breaking waves , rather than r id ing over them.

A s may be seen , much can be learned from such elementary observations, keeping a l ive animal for a few weeks or s imp ly just watching it in the f i e l d . Though we know much about the plumage, nest ing , migration, and habitats of common New Zealand b i r d s , important gaps s t i l l remain. Perhaps not only Lorenz and Tinbergen, but people l i k e G a v i n M a x w e l l and Gerald D u r r e l l can show us facts about animals that a n a l y t i c a l and s c i e n t i f i c work w i l l never do . Without an in tu i t ive " f e e l i n g " for animals many of our exact studies can become s t e r i l e , whereas the former engenders a sympathy going far beyond se l f -centred human a f fa i rs .

A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S

I w i s h to thank Dr . J . P . Leader and Professor J . E . Morton for their enthusiast ic support and c r i t i c i s m of this a r t i c l e .

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HINDE, R.A. 1966

L A C K , D. 1939

L O R E N Z , K . Z . 1952

N E A L , E . 1949 O L I V E R , W.R.B. 1930 R I C H D A L E , L . E . 1956 T H O R P E , W.H. 1956

T I N B E R G E N , N. 1965

R E F E R E N C E S

"Animal Behaviour — a Synthesis of Ethology and Comparative psychology. " McGraw-Hill Book Co. The behaviour of the robin. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. A. 109: 169-178. " K i n g Solomon's R i n g " University Paperbacks. Methuen & Co. " T h e Badger." New Naturalist Monograph Series. "New Zealand B i r d s . " A . H . & A.W. Reed. " A Population Study of Penguins. " O . U . P . "Learning and Instinct in Animals . " Methuen & Co. "Animal Behaviour." Time-Life Books, Chicago.