SPHENISCIFORMES Penguins
➤ Indicates a species (cf. subspecies)
† Indicates an extinct taxon
CM, Canterbury Museum, Christchurch
NMNZ, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington
Order SPHENISCIFORMES: Penguins
A single family is recognised for all living penguin species (Clarke et al. 2003; Ksepka et al. 2006, 2012; Cracraft 2013).
Family SPHENISCIDAE Bonaparte: Penguins
Spheniscidae Bonaparte, 1831: Giornale Arcadico di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti 49: 62 – Type genus Spheniscus Brisson, 1760.
The arrangement of genera follows the most widely used taxonomic sequence (e.g. Peters 1931; Marples 1946a; Falla & Mougin 1979; P. Harrison 1983; Marchant & Higgins 1990; Sibley & Monroe 1990; R. Howard & Moore 1991; del Hoyo et al. 1992; Christidis & Boles 1994). The generic relationships suggested by these lists has been strongly supported by many researchers (e.g. O’Hara 1989; A. Baker et al. 2001, 2006; L. Davis & Renner 2003; Giannini & Bertelli 2004; Bertelli & Giannini 2005; Ksepka et al. 2006; Walsh & Suárez 2006), including the finding that Eudyptes and Megadyptes are sister taxa. The arrangement of species within genera follows L. Davis & Renner (2003).
Genus Aptenodytes J.F. Miller
Aptenodytes J.F. Miller, 1778: Icones Animalium 4: pl. 23 – Type species (by monotypy) Aptenodytes patagonicus J.F. Miller.
Apterodita Scopoli, 1786: Delic. Flor. Faun. insubr. 2: 91. Unnecessary nomen novum for Aptenodytes J.F. Miller, 1778.
Pinguinaria Shaw, 1793: Mus. Leverianum: 144, pl. 35 – Type species (by monotypy) Aptenodytes patachonica J.R. Forster = Aptenodytes patagonicus J.F. Miller.
Aptenodites Lesson, 1837: Compléments Oeuvres Buffon 9: 542. Misspelling.
➤ Aptenodytes forsteri G.R. Gray
Emperor Penguin
Aptenodytes Forsteri G.R. Gray, 1844: Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., London 13: 315 – no locality = Antarctic seas (fide G.R. Gray 1844, List Birds Brit. Mus. 3: 156).
Aptenodytes excelsior Mathews & Iredale, 1935: Bull. Brit. Ornith. Club 55: 101 – Cape Royds, McMurdo Bay, Antarctica.
Aptenodytes forsteri G.R. Gray; Checklist Committee 1970, Annot. Checklist Birds N.Z.: 15.
Circumpolar winter breeder around the coast and islands of Antarctica, mainly on pack-ice (Falla & Mougin 1979; Marchant & Higgins 1990). At least six colonies known in the Ross Sea area, containing about 40,000 pairs (P. Harper et al. 1984; G. Wilson & Taylor 1984). Seldom ranges north of the pack-ice (Marchant & Higgins 1990). Two New Zealand records: Oreti Beach, Southland, Apr. 1967 (L. Henderson 1968), and Pekapeka Beach, Kapiti coast, Jun. 2011 (Miskelly et al. 2012). Two records at Macquarie Island: Feb. 1997 and Feb. 1998 (Palliser 2004, 2005).
➤ Aptenodytes patagonicus J.F. Miller
King Penguin | Tokoraki
Aptenodytes patagonica J.F. Miller, 1778: Icones Animalium 4: pl. 23 – no locality = South Georgia (fide Mathews 1911, Birds Australia 1: 274).
Aptenodytes patachonica J.R. Forster, 1781: Comment. Phys. Soc. Reg. Sci. Gottingensis 3: 134, pl. 2 – Straits of Magellan, Falkland Islands, South Georgia and New Guinea.
Apterodita (longirostris) Scopoli, 1786: Delic. Flor. Faun. insubr. 2: 91 – “New Guinea”, error for Tierra del Fuego (fide Falla & Mougin 1979, in Peters, Check-list Birds World 1 (2nd edition): 122).
Aptenodytes patagonica J.R. Forster, 1844: in M.H.C. Lichtenstein, Descrip. Animalium: 347 – Falkland Islands, South Georgia and New Guinea. Junior primary homonym and junior synonym of Aptenodytes patagonica J.F. Miller, 1778.
Aptenodytes Pennantii G.R. Gray, 1844: Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., London 13: 315. Based on “The Patagonian Pinguin” of Pennant 1768, Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. London 58: 91, pl. 5 – Falkland Islands.
Aptenodytes imperator Bonaparte, 1856: Compt. Rend. Séa. Acad. Sci., Paris 42: 775. (fide Mathews 1944: 101).
Aptenodytes Pennanti G.R. Gray; Anon. 1870, Cat. Colonial Mus.: 75. Unjustified emendation.
Aptenodytes pennantii G.R. Gray; Hutton 1871, Cat. Birds N.Z.: 52.
Aptenodytes pennanti G.R. Gray; Scott 1883, Trans. Proc. N.Z. Inst. 25: 491. Unjustified emendation.
Aptenodytes longirostris (Scopoli); Buller 1888 (Dec.), History of the Birds of N.Z., 2nd edition 2(part 13): 306.
Aptenodytes patagonica halli Mathews, 1911: Birds Australia 1: 272 – Macquarie Island.
Aptenodytes patagonicus J.F. Miller; Checklist Committee 1953, Checklist N.Z. Birds: 14. Emendation.
Aptenodytes patagonicus patagonicus J.F. Miller; Falla & Mougin 1979, in Peters, Check-list Birds World 1 (2nd edition): 122.
Aptenodytes patagonicus halli Mathews; Falla & Mougin 1979, in Peters, Check-list Birds World 1 (2nd edition): 123.
Mainly in the subantarctic zone, breeding on many islands, including Macquarie and Heard Islands; straggling south to Antarctica and north to South America, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand (Conroy & White 1973; Barrat 1976; Marchant & Higgins 1990). Occasionally reaches Campbell Island / Motu Ihupuku (Filhol 1885; Bailey & Sorensen 1962; Kerr 1976: 88; D. Thompson 2006), nine times to the Auckland Islands / Maukahuka (Miskelly, Elliott et al. 2020), three times to Antipodes Island (Warham & Bell 1979; Miskelly et al. 2013), twice to Snares Islands / Tini Heke (1894 & 1983: Miskelly et al. 2001a) and once to Chatham Islands (May 2006; Miskelly et al. 2006). A few New Zealand mainland records: possibly off Stewart Island / Rakiura before 1862 (Ellman 1861); Moeraki, Otago, Jul. 1878 (Buller 1893); Stewart Island (Buller 1882, 1887–88); Auckland Harbour, 1924 (Stidolph 1927); Broad Bay, Stewart Island, Feb. 1983 (Fennell 1983a); Kaikoura and Timaru, Oct. 1989 (O’Donnell & West 1991); Barrytown, Jan. 2005 (Miskelly, Crossland et al. 2019); Porpoise Bay, Catlins, Mar. 2012 (Miskelly et al. 2013); Doughboy Bay, Stewart Island, Mar. 2015 (Miskelly, Crossland et al. 2017); Taieri Mouth, Otago, Dec. 2017 (Miskelly, Crossland et al. 2019); Fortrose Spit, Catlins coast, Nov. 2022 (Miskelly, Crossland et al. 2023). Breeding has not been recorded on Stewart Island / Rakiura, Campbell Island / Motu Ihupuku, or Auckland Islands / Maukahuka (contra Milne-Edwards 1880 and Conroy & White 1973). A few midden remains on Chatham Island (Scarlett 1976c), and a mandible on Enderby Island, Auckland Islands (Tennyson 2020a).
Genus Pygoscelis Wagler
Pygoscelis Wagler, 1832: Isis von Oken, Heft 2: col. 281 – Type species (by monotypy) Aptenodytes papua J.R. Forster = Pygoscelis papua (J.R. Forster).
Dasyramphus Pucheran, 1853: in Dumont d’Urville, Voyage Pôle Sud, Zoologie 3: 154 – Type species (by monotypy) Catarrhactes adeliae Hombron & Jacquinot = Pygoscelis adeliae (Hombron & Jacquinot).
Dasycelis Mathews, 1934: Bull. Brit. Ornith. Club 55: 74 – Type species (by original designation) Aptenodytes antarctica J.R. Forster = Pygoscelis antarctica (J.R. Forster).
Pucheramphus Mathews, 1935: Bull. Brit. Ornith. Club 55: 113 – Type species (by original designation) Catarrhactes adeliae Hombron & Jacquinot = Pygoscelis adeliae (Hombron & Jacquinot).
➤ Pygoscelis adeliae (Hombron & Jacquinot)
Adelie Penguin
Catarrhactes Adeliae Hombron & Jacquinot, 1841: Ann. Sci. Nat., Zool. Paris, 2nd series 16: 320 – Adélie Land, Antarctica.
Eudyptes adeliae (Hombron & Jacquinot); G.R. Gray 1845, in Richardson & J.E. Gray (Eds), Zool. Voy. ‘Erebus’ & ‘Terror’, Birds 1(8): pl. 28.
Dasyramphus adeliae (Hombron & Jacquinot); Mathews 1929, Ibis 5 (12th series): 699.
Pygoscelis adeliae (Hombron & Jacquinot); Checklist Committee 1970, Annot. Checklist Birds N.Z.: 16.
Circumpolar, breeding on ice-free coasts and islands of Antarctica and on South Shetland, South Orkney, South Sandwich, and Bouvetøya Islands (Marchant & Higgins 1990; Ainley 2002). About 750,000 pairs (about one-third of the world population) breed in the Ross Sea region (G. Wilson & Taylor 1984; Ainley 2002). Holocene remains recorded in the Ross Sea region (Lambert et al. 2002). Rarely straggles north, reaching Macquarie Island twice: Nov. 1950 and Feb. 1964 (Checklist Committee 1970). Has reached mainland New Zealand five times: one dead near Long Point, Marlborough, Dec. 1962, (Kennington 1963); one live at Kaikoura Dec. 1992–Jan. 1993 (Cossee & Mills 1993; Medway 2000a); one live at Birdlings Flat, Canterbury, Nov. 2021; one live at Scotts Landing, Manawatu, Nov. 2021; one dead on Masons Bay, Stewart Island, Dec. 2021 (Miskelly, Purdie et al. 2022).
➤ Pygoscelis papua (J.R. Forster)
Gentoo Penguin
Aptenodytes Papua J.R. Forster, 1781: Comment. Phys. Soc. Reg. Sci. Gottingensis 3: 134, pl. 3 – Falkland Islands.
Aptenodytes Papua J.R. Forster, 1844: in M.H.C. Lichtenstein, Descrip. Animalium: 347 – New Guinea and Falkland Islands. Junior primary homonym and junior synonym of Aptenodytes Papua J.R. Forster, 1781.
Pygoscelis papua (J.R. Forster); G.R. Gray 1845, in Richardson & J.E. Gray (Eds), Zool. Voy. ‘Erebus’ & ‘Terror’, Birds 1(8): pl. 25.
Eudyptes papua (J.R. Forster); Cassin 1858, U.S. Expl. Exped. Ornithology 8: 350.
We recognise four subspecies, based on Pertierra et al. (2020) and Tyler et al. (2020), and following F. Gill et al. (2021): northern gentoo penguin P. p. papua, breeding on the Falkland Islands and Tierra del Fuego; southern gentoo penguin P. p. ellsworthi Murphy, 1947, breeding on the Antarctic Peninsula, South Sandwich Islands, South Shetland Islands, and South Orkney Islands; South Georgia gentoo penguin P. p. poncetii Tyler, Bonfitto, Clucas, Reddy & Younger, 2020, breeding on South Georgia; and eastern gentoo penguin P. p. taeniata, breeding on Marion, Prince Edward, Crozet, Kerguelen, Heard, and Macquarie Islands. Those that have straggled to New Zealand shores are presumed to have been of the eastern subspecies.
Pygoscelis papua taeniata (Peale)
Eastern Gentoo Penguin
Aptenodytes taeniata Peale, 1848: U.S. Expl. Exped. 8: 264, 335 – Macquarie Island.
Pygoscelis taeniala (Peale); Scott 1883, Trans. Proc. N.Z. Inst. 25: 491. Unjustified emendation.
Pygoscelis taeniatus (Peale); Buller 1888 (Dec.), History of the Birds of N.Z., 2nd edition 2(part 13): 304. Unjustified emendation.
Pygoscelis papua taeniata (Peale); Mathews & Iredale 1913, Ibis 1 (10th series): 219.
Pygoscelis taeniata (Peale); Falla 1937, BANZARE Reports Ser. B, 2: 19.
Subantarctic waters of the Indian and Pacific sectors; breeding at Marion, Prince Edward, Crozet, Kerguelen, Heard, and Macquarie Islands (Marchant & Higgins 1990; Pertierra et al. 2020; Tyler et al. 2020). Straggles north: Campbell Island / Motu Ihupuku (Dec. 1964–Mar. 1965, Aug. 1965 and Dec. 1985; Kinsky 1969; Marchant & Higgins 1990); Otago: Sep. 1970, Oct. 1974, and Oct. 2011 (Edgar 1972a; Darby & Wright 1973; T. Jackson 1975; Miskelly et al. 2013); Bluff, Nov. 1970 (Edgar 1972a); Banks Peninsula: Feb. 1976 and Dec. 1993 (Checklist Committee 1990; Medway 2000a); Antipodes Island: Nov. 1978, Nov. 1995, and Dec. 2002 (Tennyson et al. 2002; Medway 2003a); Snares Islands / Tini Heke, Dec. 1985 (Miskelly et al. 2001a).
➤ Pygoscelis antarcticus (J.R. Forster)
Chinstrap Penguin
Aptenodytes antarctica J.R. Forster, 1781: Comment. Phys. Soc. Reg. Sci. Gottingensis 3: 134, pl. 4 – South Shetland Islands.
Eudyptes antarctica (J.R. Forster); G.R. Gray 1845, in Richardson & J.E. Gray (Eds), Zool. Voy. ‘Erebus’ & ‘Terror’, Birds 1(8): pl. 26.
Pygoscelis antarctica (J.R. Forster); Oliver 1930, New Zealand Birds, 1st edition: 66.
Pygoscelis antarcticus (J.R. Forster); Dickinson & Remsen 2013, Howard & Moore Complete Checklist Birds World, 4th edition, 1: 170.
We follow David & Gosselin (2002b) and Dickinson & Remsen (2013) in regarding Pygoscelis as masculine, hence the species name should be Pygoscelis antarcticus (contra Checklist Committee 2010). Circumpolar, breeding on the Antarctic Peninsula, on islands off Antarctica, at the South Shetland, South Orkney, and South Sandwich Islands, at South Georgia, and on Bouvetøya Island; possibly on Heard Island and Isla Hornos (Marchant & Higgins 1990). Only known colony near New Zealand is on Chinstrap Islet, Balleny Islands (13+ pairs; C. Robertson et al. 1980). Stragglers reach other parts of the Ross Sea (G. Wilson & Taylor 1984; Spurr 1985; Spurr et al. 1990). Many records from Macquarie Island (Marchant & Higgins 1990; Palliser 2004). Only five records from New Zealand: Antipodes Island, Nov. 1978 (Tennyson et al. 2002); Invercargill, Dec. 1980 (Medway 2000a); Campbell Island / Motu Ihupuku, Mar. 1984 (Fennell 1986); Otago coast, Nov. 1992 (Medway 2000a); and Kaikoura, Nov. 2002 (Saville 2003).
Genus Eudyptes Vieillot
Eudyptes Vieillot, 1816 (Apr.): Analyse Nouv. Ornith. Elem.: 67, 70 – Type species (by subsequent designation) Aptenodytes chrysocome J.R. Forster = Eudyptes chrysocome (J.R. Forster).
Catarrhactes Cuvier, 1816 (Dec.): Règne Anim. 1: 513. Junior homonym of Catarrhactes Herman, 1783.
Chrysocoma Stephens, 1826: in Shaw, General Zool. 13(1): 57 – Type species (by tautonymy) Aptenodytes chrysocome J.R. Forster = Eudyptes chrysocome (J.R. Forster).
Catarhactes Brandt, 1837: Bull. l’Acad. Imp. Sci., St Petersburg 2: 314. Unjustified emendation.
Cataractes Le Maout, 1855: Hist. Nat. Oiseaux: 419. Unjustified emendation.
Penguinus Mathews, 1911: Birds Australia 1(5): 276 – Type species (by original designation) Aptenodytes chrysocome J.R. Forster = Eudyptes chrysocome (J.R. Forster). Junior homonym of Penguinus Brünnich, 1771.
Catadyptes Mathews, 1934: Bull. Brit. Ornith. Club 55: 74 – Type species (by original designation) Catarhactes chrysolophus Brandt = Eudyptes chrysolophus (Brandt).
Members of the genus Eudyptes are known as “crested penguins”. The genera Catarractes Brisson, 1760 and Penguinus Brünnich, 1771 have been used for species of crested penguins, but we regard them as nomina dubia following Mathews & Iredale (1913: 219). The identity of the species referred to as Eudyptes vittata Finsch, 1875a is uncertain. Contra Ogilvie-Grant (1905) and Falla & Mougin (1979: 129), the name was based on a single specimen. Finsch’s (1875a) description of the starting point and form of the superciliary stripe is consistent with an immature Fiordland crested penguin (E. pachyrhynchus); however, the description of the bill is not entirely consistent with this species. Unless the holotype can be located and identified, we recommend that E. vittata be regarded as a nomen dubium. Rockhopper penguins rarely reach mainland New Zealand – mainly the Otago coast (e.g. Richdale 1940: 203, 1957: 1, 176; Checklist Committee 1953; Oliver 1955; Warham 1985; Ahlers 1988; Marchant & Higgins 1990; Hocken 2001; CM AV853) – but the specific status of most of these birds has not been determined.
➤ Eudyptes chrysocome (J.R. Forster)
Western Rockhopper Penguin
Aptenodytes chrysocome J.R. Forster, 1781: Comment. Phys. Soc. Reg. Sci. Gottingensis 3: 133, pl. 1 – Tasmania and Falkland Islands, restricted to Kidney Island, Berkeley Sound, East Falkland Island (fide Carins 1974, Emu 74: 56).
Aptenodytes crestata J.F. Miller, 1784: Icones Animalium 9: pl. 49 – Falkland Islands.
“aptenodytes [sic] chrysocoma” Deleuse, 1823: Hist. Desc. Mus. Roy. Hist. Nat: 486. Unjustified emendation.
Chrysocoma saltator Stephens, 1826: in Shaw, General Zool. 13(1): 58, pl. 8 – Falkland Islands.
Cataractes chrysocoma (J.R. Forster); Le Maout, 1855: Hist. Nat. Oiseaux: 420. Unjustified emendation.
Eudyptes saltator (Stephens); Bowdler Sharpe 1879, Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. London 168: 160, pl. 8, fig. 1.
Eudyptes cristatus (J.F. Miller); Iredale & Cayley 1925, Emu 25: 4. Unjustified emendation.
Eudyptes chrysocome chrysocome (J.R. Forster); Oliver 1930, New Zealand Birds, 1st edition: 71.
Eudyptes crestatus crestatus (J.F. Miller); Checklist Committee 1953, Checklist N.Z. Birds: 15. In part.
Eudyptes crestatus (J.F. Miller); Checklist Committee 1970, Annot. Checklist Birds N.Z.: 17. In part.
Eudyptes chrysocome chrysocome (J.R. Forster); Checklist Committee 1990, Checklist Birds N.Z.: 71.
Breeds on islands off Cape Horn, Isla Solitario (Chile), and the Falkland Islands (Falla & Mougin 1979; G. Clark et al. 1992; Schiavini 2000). At least two visited, or were resident at, Snares Islands / Tini Heke in 1985–2000 (Tennyson & Miskelly 1989; Miskelly et al. 2001a). One at Victory Beach, Otago Peninsula, Feb. 2019 (Miskelly, Crossland et al. 2021).
➤ Eudyptes filholi Hutton
Eastern Rockhopper Penguin | Tawaki Piki Toka
Eudyptes filholi Hutton, 1879: Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales 3: 334 – Campbell Island.
Eudyptes chrysocome; Buller 1888 (Dec.), History of the Birds of N.Z., 2nd edition 2(part 13): 290. Not Aptenodytes chrysocome J.R. Forster, 1781.
Catarrhactes chrysocome; Hutton 1904, Index Faunae N.Z.: 36. Not Aptenodytes chrysocome J.R. Forster, 1781.
Eudyptes chrysocome chrysocome; Mathews & Iredale 1913, Ibis 1 (10th series): 220. Not Aptenodytes chrysocome J.R. Forster, 1781.
Eudyptes chrysocome filholi Hutton; Mathews & Iredale 1913, Ibis 1 (10th series): 221.
Eudyptes crestatus filholi Hutton; Peters 1931, Check-list Birds World 1: 31.
Eudyptes crestatus crestatus (J.F. Miller); Checklist Committee 1953, Checklist N.Z. Birds: 15. In part.
Eudyptes crestatus (J.F. Miller); Checklist Committee 1970, Annot. Checklist Birds N.Z.: 17. In part.
Eudyptes chrysocome filholli Hutton; Marchant & Higgins 1990, HANZAB 1: 240. Misspelling.
Eudyptes filholi Hutton; Holdaway et al. 2001, New Zealand Journ. Zool. 28(2): 129, 176.
Breeds at Heard, Kerguelen, Crozet, Marion, Prince Edward, and Macquarie Islands, and in the New Zealand region on Campbell / Motu Ihupuku, Auckland / Maukahuka, and Antipodes Islands (Falla & Mougin 1979; C. Robertson & van Tets 1982; Marchant & Higgins 1990). Numbers have declined markedly at the Auckland Islands (W. Cooper 1992), Campbell Island / Motu Ihupuku (Cunningham & Moors 1994), and Antipodes Islands (Tennyson 1996b) in recent decades. Frequent visitor to Snares Islands / Tini Heke (Miskelly et al. 2001a); one on the Chatham Islands Feb.–Mar. 1988 (Tennyson 1994). One at Cape Palliser, Wairarapa, Jan. 2017 (Miskelly, Crossland et al. 2019); one north of Ashburton River mouth, Feb. 2022; one at Nugget Point, Catlins coast, Apr. 2022 (Miskelly, Crossland et al. 2023). Recognised as a full species following Holdaway et al. (2001) and J.C. Banks et al. (2006). Holocene bones are common on Enderby Island, Auckland Islands (Tennyson 2020a). Some authorities treat filholi as a subspecies of E. chrysocome (e.g. Dickinson & Remsen 2013; Mays et al. 2019).
➤ Eudyptes moseleyi Mathews & Iredale
Northern Rockhopper Penguin
Eudyptes serresianus moseleyi Mathews & Iredale, 1921: Man. Birds of Australia 1: 11 – Inaccessible Island, Tristan da Cunha group.
Eudyptes chrysocome moseleyi Mathews & Iredale; Checklist Committee 1980, Notornis 27 (Suppl.): 5.
Eudyptes moseleyi Mathews & Iredale; Jouventin 1982, Journ. Comparat. Ethology, Suppl. 24: 139.
Eudyptes chrysocome moseleyii Mathews & Iredale; Marchant & Higgins 1990, HANZAB 1: 240. Unjustified emendation.
Eudyptes mosleyi; Scofield & Stephenson 2013, Birds N.Z. Photographic Guide. 1st edition: 82. Misspelling.
Breeds in the subtropical and low subantarctic zones at Tristan da Cunha Group (Tristan, Inaccessible, Middle, and Nightingale Islands) and Gough Island in the South Atlantic Ocean, and on St Paul and Amsterdam Islands in the Indian Ocean (Falla & Mougin 1979; Richardson 1984). Ranges to southern and particularly south-west Australia (Marchant & Higgins 1990). Three to five New Zealand records, all of single birds: Rangatira Island, Chatham Islands, Aug. 1968 to Nov. 1970; (probable) Gisborne, Dec. 1976; Wellington, Jan. 1984; one or two at the Chatham Islands, 1993–2004 (Moors & Merton 1984; Marchant & Higgins 1990; S. King & Robertson 1999; Miskelly & Bell 2004). Recognised as a full species following Jouventin (1982), Woehler (1995), J.C. Banks et al. (2006), and Jouventin et al. (2006).
We follow Shirihai (2002), Dickinson & Remsen (2013), and F. Gill et al. (2021) in using northern rockhopper penguin as the vernacular name for this species (cf. Moseley’s rockhopper penguin sensu Checklist Committee 2010).
➤ Eudyptes pachyrhynchus G.R. Gray
Fiordland Crested Penguin | Tawaki
Eudyptes pachyrhynchus G.R. Gray, 1845: in Richardson & J.E. Gray (Eds), Zool. Voy. ‘Erebus’ & ‘Terror’, Birds 1(8): 17 – Waikouaiti, Otago.
Eudyptes chrysocomus; Buller 1873 (Mar.), History of the Birds of N.Z., 1st edition (part 5): 344, pl. facing page 344, fig. on left. Not Aptenodytes chrysocome J.R. Forster, 1781.
Eudyptes chrysocoma; Sharpe 1875, in Richardson & J.E. Gray (Eds), Zool. Voy. ‘Erebus’ & ‘Terror’, Birds –1 (Appendix): 35. Not Aptenodytes chrysocome J.R. Forster, 1781.
Aptenodytes pachyrynchus G.R. Gray [sic]; Anon. 1870, Cat. Colonial Mus.: 75. Unjustified emendation.
Eudyptes pachyrhynchus G.R. Gray; Buller 1888 (Dec.), History of the Birds of N.Z., 2nd edition 2(part 13): 287. In part.
Catarrhactes pachyrhynchus (G.R. Gray); Hutton 1904, Index Faunae N.Z.: 36.
Eudyptes chrysocome pachyrhynchus G.R. Gray; Mathews & Iredale 1913, Ibis 1 (10th series): 220.
Eudyptes pachyrhynchus pachyrhynchus G.R. Gray; Checklist Committee 1953, Checklist N.Z. Birds: 15.
Eudyptes pachyrhynchus G.R. Gray; Checklist Committee 1990, Checklist Birds N.Z.: 73.
Nests on headlands, islets and around the entrances to fiords in Fiordland and South Westland, from near Bruce Bay southwards, including the Open Bay Islands (Marchant & Higgins 1990; I. McLean et al. 1997; Long 2017). A few nest on Stewart Island / Rakiura and its offshore islands, especially Codfish / Whenua Hou and Solander (Hautere) Islands (Studholme et al. 1994; Long & Litchwark 2021). Attempted breeding on islet in Palliser Bay (North Island) in 1953 and 1954 – also near Abut Head (Westland) and possibly on Banks Peninsula – but no recent reports of breeding this far north (Marchant & Higgins 1990). Immatures, and occasional older birds, are common on Snares Islands / Tini Heke Nov.–Mar. (Miskelly et al. 2001a). Stragglers are found around all South Island coasts and rarely as far north as Northland (Marchant & Higgins 1990; Shaw 1994). Straggles to Campbell / Motu Ihupuku, Auckland / Maukahuka, and Macquarie Islands, southern Australia and possibly even to the Falkland Islands (Marchant & Higgins 1990; Miskelly & Bell 2004; Miskelly, Elliott et al. 2020). Late Pleistocene remains (e.g. Worthy & Grant-Mackie 2003) and midden and Holocene bones are known from the South Island, but North Island records need reevaluation following the description and naming of E. warhami and the reidentification of several North Island “Eudyptes” bones as Megadyptes antipodes waitaha (see Worthy 1997e; Rawlence, Tennyson et al. 2019; and T. Cole, Ksepka et al. 2019).
➤ Eudyptes robustus Oliver
Snares Crested Penguin | Pokotiwha
Eudyptes atrata Hutton, 1875: in Finsch, Ibis 5 (3rd series): 114 – “The Snares”. Suppressed and invalid (fide ICZN 1976, Opinion 1056. Bull. Zool. Nomenclature 33(1): 16).
Eudyptes pachyrhynchus; Finsch 1888, Ibis 6 (5th series): 309. Not Eudyptes pachyrhynchus G.R. Gray, 1845.
Eudyptes pachyrhynchus; Buller 1888 (Dec.), History of the Birds of N.Z., 2nd edition 2(part 13): 287. In part.
Eudyptes atratus Hutton; Buller 1888 (Dec.), History of the Birds of N.Z., 2nd edition 2(part 13): 296. Emendation.
Catarrhactes pachyrhynchus; Buller 1905, Suppl. Birds N.Z. 1: 86, 89. In part.
Eudyptes pachyrhynchus atratus Hutton; Falla 1935, Rec. Auck. Inst. Museum 1: 324.
Eudyptes robustus Oliver, 1953: Emu 53: 187 – Snares Islands. Name placed in the Official List of Specific Names in Zoology (fide ICZN 1976, Opinion 1056. Bull. Zool. Nomenclature 33(1): 16).
Eudyptes atratus; Warham 1972, Ardea 60: 147.
Eudyptes robustus Oliver; Checklist Committee 1980, Notornis (Suppl.) 27: 5.
Breeds only on the Snares Islands / Tini Heke (on Main and Broughton Islands and in small numbers on Toru and Rima Islets of the Western Chain; Miskelly et al. 2001a). Total population 28,800 breeding pairs in 2000 (Amey et al. 2001), and considered stable following another count in 2008 (D. Houston & Hiscock 2013). Uncommon visitor to beaches around South Island and Stewart Island / Rakiura (Marchant & Higgins 1990). A rare straggler as far north as south Australia and Tasmania (Marchant & Higgins 1990; Palliser 2006) and Napier (Medway 2002f); and to the Auckland Islands / Maukahuka (Miskelly, Elliott et al. 2020), Antipodes Islands (Tennyson et al. 2002), Campbell Island / Motu Ihupuku, Macquarie Island (Marchant & Higgins 1990), Chatham Islands (Miskelly & Bell 2004; Scofield 2005a; Miskelly et al. 2006), and Falkland Islands (Lamey 1990). Tentatively identified from Holocene dune deposits on Enderby Island, Auckland Islands / Maukahuka (Tennyson 2020a).
➤ Eudyptes sclateri Buller
Erect-crested Penguin | Tawaki Nana Hī
Aptenodytes papua; Vieillot 1834, Gal. des Oiseaux 2: 246, pl. 299. Not Aptenodytes papua J.R. Forster, 1781.
Eudyptes chrysocome; Reischek 1888, Trans. Proc. N.Z. Inst. 21: 386. Not Aptenodytes chrysocome J.R. Forster, 1781.
Eudyptes chrysocome; Sclater 1888, Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1888 (19): 265. Not Aptenodytes chrysocome J.R. Forster, 1781.
Eudyptes sclateri Buller, 1888 (Dec.): History of the Birds of N.Z., 2nd edition 2(part 13): 289 – Auckland Islands. Name placed in the Official List of Specific Names in Zoology (fide ICZN 1976, Opinion 1056. Bull. Zool. Nomenclature 33(1): 16).
Catarrhactes sclateri Buller; Buller 1905, Suppl. Birds N.Z. 1: 88.
Eudyptes chrysocome sclateri Buller; Mathews & Iredale 1913, Ibis 1 (10th series): 220.
Eudyptes vittata; Mathews 1935, Ibis 5 (13th series): 886. Not Eudyptes vittata Finsch, 1875a = nomen dubium.
Eudyptes pachyrhynchus vittata; Mathews 1935, Ibis 5 (13th series): 887. Not Eudyptes vittata Finsch, 1875a = nomen dubium.
Eudyptes pachyrhynchus sclateri Buller; Checklist Committee 1953, Checklist N.Z. Birds: 15.
Eudyptes sclateri Buller; Checklist Committee 1990, Checklist Birds N.Z.: 74.
Breeds in large numbers on the Antipodes and Bounty Islands, and in the past in small numbers at Campbell Island / Motu Ihupuku and possibly on Disappointment Island (Auckland Islands / Maukahuka; Marchant & Higgins 1990; Miskelly, Elliott et al. 2020). Attempted to breed on Otago Peninsula, 1938–47 (Richdale 1950). Straggles to coasts of North, South, and Stewart / Rakiura Islands (Marchant & Higgins 1990). A regular visitor to Snares Islands / Tini Heke and Chatham Islands Nov.–Mar. (Miskelly et al. 2001a, 2006; Miskelly & Bell 2004) and rarely to Macquarie Island (Marchant & Higgins 1990). Occasionally reaches Tasmania and southern Australia (Marchant & Higgins 1990) and the Indian Ocean (Speedie 1992). One that reached the Falkland Islands was present 1961–66; in at least one season it tended eggs with a western rockhopper penguin, but no chicks were raised (Napier 1968); another was seen there c. 1999 (Gurunathan 2004). No Holocene or midden records reported from mainland New Zealand sites are verifiable (Worthy 1997e). The abundant Chatham Island Holocene remains and midden material previously referred to this species (Checklist Committee 1990; L. Davis & Renner 2003), represent three taxa, including the erect-crested penguin (T. Cole, Ksepka et al. 2019). Tentatively identified from Holocene dune deposits on Enderby Island, Auckland / Maukahuka Islands (Tennyson 2020a).
➤ †Eudyptes warhami Cole, Tennyson, Ksepka & Thomas
Chatham Island Crested Penguin
Eudyptes ?n. sp. Tennyson & Millener, 1994: Notornis 41 (supp.): 169.
Eudyptes, species undescribed Millener 1999: Smithsonian Contrib. Paleobiology 89: 97.
Eudyptes chathamensis Thiebot, Cherel, Crawford, Makhado, Trathan, Pinaud & Bost, 2013: PLOS One 8(8) e71429: 2. Nomen nudum.
Eudyptes warhami Cole, Tennyson, Ksepka & Thomas, (in Cole, Ksepka, Mitchell, Tennyson, Thomas, Pan, Zhang, Rawlence, Wood, Bover, Bouzat, Cooper, Fiddaman, Hart, Miller, Ryan, Shepherd, Wilmshurst & Waters), 2019: Mol. Biol. Evol. 36: 787 – Tahatika Creek, Chatham Island.
This species is known only from Holocene remains on Chatham and Mangere Islands, with referred specimens from the east coast of mainland New Zealand (Tennyson & Millener 1994; Millener 1999; T. Cole, Ksepka et al. 2019).
➤ Eudyptes chrysolophus (Brandt)
Macaroni Penguin
Breeds at islands near the Antarctic Convergence around the Southern Ocean. Vagrant in New Zealand. We follow Checklist Committee (1953), T. Cole, Dutoit et al. (2019), T. Cole, Ksepka et al. (2019), and Frugone et al. (2019) in regarding Eudyptes schlegeli as a subspecies of Eudyptes chrysolophus.
Eudyptes chrysolophus chrysolophus (Brandt)
Macaroni Penguin
Catarhactes chrysolophus Brandt, 1837: Bull. l’Acad. Imp. Sci., St Petersburg 2: col. 315 – Falkland Islands.
Eudyptes diadematus Schlegel, 1876 “(Cat. No.2)”: in Finsch, Trans. Proc. N.Z. Inst. 8: 203 – locality uncertain, “said to be from New Zealand”.
Eudyptes chrysolopha (Brandt); Hutton 1879, Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales 3: 335. Unjustified emendation.
Eudyptes chrysolophus (Brandt); Buller 1888 (Dec.), History of the Birds of N.Z., 2nd edition 2(part 13): 297.
Catarrhactes chrysolophus Brandt; Buller 1905, Suppl. Birds N.Z. 1: 94.
Eudyptes chrysolophus chrysolophus (Brandt); Checklist Committee 1970, Annot. Checklist Birds N.Z.: 17.
Main breeding colonies on islands within a few degrees of the Antarctic Convergence in the South Atlantic and South Indian Oceans: South Shetland, South Orkney, South Sandwich, Elephant, South Georgia, Heard, McDonald, Falkland, Bouvetøya, Prince Edward, Marion, Crozet, and Kerguelen Islands, and in Chile (Marchant & Higgins 1990; G. Clark et al. 1992). Previously thought to straggle to the Ross Dependency (Kinsky 1969); however, records from there are now considered to be royal penguins (Shepherd, Miskelly et al. 2021). Rarely reaches the New Zealand subantarctic: Campbell Island / Motu Ihupuku 1967–68 and Jan. 1993, (Kinsky 1969; Miskelly et al. 2013), and Snares Islands / Tini Heke 1969–74, and again in Mar. 2015 and 2019 (Miskelly et al. 2001a; Miskelly, Crossland et al. 2017, 2021).
Eudyptes chrysolophus schlegeli Finsch
Royal Penguin
Eudyptes schlegeli Finsch, 1876: Trans. Proc. N.Z. Inst. 8: 204 – Macquarie Island.
Eudyptes diadematus Schlegel, 1876 “indiv. No. 3, Schleg., in Mus. P.B.”: in Finsch, Trans. Proc. N.Z. Inst. 8: 204. Junior primary homonym of Eudyptes diadematus Schlegel, 1876 “(Cat. No.2)” = Eudyptes chrysolophus (Brandt).
Eudyptes albigularis Milne-Edwards, 1880: Ann. Sci. Nat., Zool. Paris, 6th series 9(18): 55, pl. 19 – Macquarie Island.
Catarrhactes schlegeli (Finsch); Hutton 1904, Index Faunae N.Z.: 36.
Catadyptes chrysolophus redimitus Mathews & Iredale, 1935: Bull. Brit. Ornith. Club 55: 102 – Macquarie Island.
Eudyptes chrysolophus schlegeli Finsch; Checklist Committee 1953, Checklist N.Z. Birds: 15.
Breeds only at Macquarie Island, straggling to Antarctica and islands in the southern Indian Ocean and north to Tasmania and southern Australia (Marchant & Higgins 1990; Shepherd, Miskelly et al. 2021). Occasionally straggles to New Zealand: Otago (Waikouaiti, Mar. 1877, and Brighton and Taiaroa Head, Feb. 1939; Stidolph 1927; Richdale 1953; Oliver 1955); Napier, 1880–81 (Stidolph 1927); Wellington (Lyall Bay, Jun. 1926, NMNZ 14083); Otago Peninsula, 1938–39 (Richdale 1957: 4); Dunedin, Mar. 1976 (NMNZ 19186); Snares Islands / Tini Heke, Feb. 1986, Mar. 1994, and Mar. 2015, (Miskelly et al. 2001a; Miskelly, Crossland et al. 2017); Moeraki, Mar. 1986 (Fennell 1987); Southland, Feb. 1997 (G. Taylor 2004); Kaikoura, Mar. 1997 (Miskelly et al. 2013); Nugget Point, Feb. 2004 (Rare Birds Committee 2005); Chatham Islands, Feb.–Mar. 2005 and Feb. 2020 (Miskelly et al. 2006; Miskelly, Crossland et al. 2021); Hampden Beach, Feb. 2006 (Anon. 2006b); Cape Palliser, Feb. 2007 (Anon. 2007b); Antipodes Island, Mar. 2009 (Miskelly et al. 2013); Otago Peninsula, Jan. 2017 (Miskelly, Crossland et al. 2019); Codfish Island / Whenua Hou, Mar. 2020 (Miskelly, Crossland et al. 2021); and Halfmoon Bay, Stewart Island, Feb.–Mar. 2022 (Miskelly, Crossland et al. 2023). Several records from Campbell Island / Motu Ihupuku (Warham 1971; Marchant & Higgins 1990; D. Thompson 2006).
Genus Megadyptes Milne-Edwards
Megadyptes Milne-Edwards, 1880: Ann. Sci. Nat., Zool. Paris, 6th series 9(18): 56 – Type species (by monotypy) Catarrhactes antipodes Hombron & Jacquinot = Megadyptes antipodes (Hombron & Jacquinot).
Fleming (1979: 75) and Fordyce (1991b: 1214, 1311) reported a fossil radius of M. antipodes (New Zealand Geological Survey CD 536) from the Early Pleistocene (Okehuan) but analysis of this bone’s identity is required.
➤ Megadyptes antipodes (Hombron & Jacquinot)
Yellow-eyed Penguin | Hoiho
North Island, South Island, Stewart Island / Rakiura, Chatham Islands, Auckland Islands / Maukahuka, and Campbell Island / Motu Ihupuku. Three subspecies are recognised, following T. Cole, Ksepka et al. (2019).
Megadyptes antipodes antipodes (Hombron & Jacquinot)
Yellow-eyed Penguin | Hoiho
Catarrhactes antipodes Hombron & Jacquinot, 1841: Ann. Sci. Nat., Zool. Paris, 2nd series 16: 320 – Auckland Islands.
Eudyptes antipodes (Hombron & Jacquinot); G.R. Gray 1843, in E. Dieffenbach, Travels in N.Z. 2: 199.
Aptenodytes flavilarvata Peale, 1848: U.S. Expl. Exped. 8: 260 – Auckland Islands.
Pygoscelis antipodes (Hombron & Jacquinot); Hombron & Jacquinot 1853, in Dumont d’Urville, Voyage Pôle Sud, Zoologie 3: 156, pl. 33, fig. 2.
Pygoscelis antipoda (Hombron & Jacquinot); Bonaparte 1856, Compt. Rend. Séa. Acad. Sci., Paris 42: 775. Unjustified emendation.
Eudyptes antipodes Ellman, 1861: Zoologist 19: 7472 – South Island. Junior secondary homonym and junior synonym of Catarrhactes antipodes Hombron & Jacquinot, 1841.
Spheniscus antipoda (Hombron & Jacquinot); Schlegel 1867, Mus. Hist. Nat. Pays-Bas, Urinatores 9: 9. Unjustified emendation.
Aptenodytes antipodes Hombron [sic]; Anon. 1870, Cat. Colonial Mus.: 75.
Eudyptes antipodum (Hombron & Jacquinot); Buller 1873 (Mar.), History of the Birds of N.Z., 1st edition (part 5): 346. Unjustified emendation.
Eudyptes antipoda (Hombron & Jacquinot); Hutton 1879, Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales 3: 335. Unjustified emendation.
Megadyptes antipodes (Hombron & Jacquinot); Milne-Edwards 1880, Ann. Sci. Nat., Zool. Paris, 6th series 9(18): 56.
Megadyptes antipodum (Hombron & Jacquinot); Hutton 1904, Index Faunae N.Z.: 36. Unjustified emendation.
Megadyptes antipodes fallai Mathews, 1944: Emu 43: 247 – Stewart Island.
Megadyptes antipodes antipodes (Hombron & Jacquinot); Cole et al. 2019, Mol. Biol. Evol. 36: 786.
Breeding only at Campbell / Motu Ihupuku, Auckland / Maukahuka, Stewart / Rakiura, and Codfish / Whenua Hou Islands; Southland and Otago coasts; and Banks Peninsula, Canterbury (Marchant & Higgins 1990; Massaro & Blair 2003). Straggles as far north as Taranaki (Messenger 2000) and East Cape (L. Davis & Renner 2003). Has reached the Snares Islands / Tini Heke (Miskelly et al. 2001a) and the Chatham Islands (Marchant & Higgins 1990; Imber 1994; Miskelly et al. 2006). Unverified reports from Kerguelen and Macquarie Islands (Marchant & Higgins 1990). Prehistorically its main populations were restricted to the subantarctic islands, with vagrants reaching the South Island, where the conspecific M. a. waitaha bred (Boessenkool et al. 2009; T. Cole, Ksepka et al. 2019). Holocene bones and midden remains have been found on Enderby Island, Auckland Islands (Tennyson 2020a).
†Megadyptes antipodes waitaha Boessenkool, Austin, Worthy, Scofield, Cooper, Seddon & Waters
Waitaha Penguin
Megadyptes waitaha Boessenkool, Austin, Worthy, Scofield, Cooper, Seddon & Waters, 2009: Proc. Roy. Soc. B. 276: 817 – Marfells Beach, South Island.
Megadyptes antipodes waitaha Boessenkool, Austin, Worthy, Scofield, Cooper, Seddon & Waters; T. Cole et al. 2019, Mol. Biol. Evol. 36: 790.
We follow T. Cole, Ksepka et al. (2019) in regarding Megadyptes waitaha as a subspecies of Megadyptes antipodes. Lower North Island, and South Island south to Codfish Island / Whenua Hou, in Holocene deposits and middens (Boessenkool et al. 2009; Rawlence, Tennyson et al. 2019). M. a. antipodes extended its breeding range to include the South Island only after the early prehistoric extinction of M. a. waitaha.
†Megadyptes antipodes richdalei Tennyson & Cole
Richdale’s Penguin
Megadyptes antipodes richdalei Tennyson & Cole (in Cole, Ksepka, Mitchell, Tennyson, Thomas, Pan, Zhang, Rawlence, Wood, Bover, Bouzat, Cooper, Fiddaman, Hart, Miller, Ryan, Shepherd, Wilmshurst & Waters), 2019: Mol. Biol. Evol. 36: 788 – east of Maunganui, Chatham Island.
This subspecies is known only from Holocene remains on Chatham and Pitt Islands (T. Cole, Ksepka et al. 2019).
Genus Eudyptula Bonaparte
Eudyptula Bonaparte, 1856: Compt. Rend. Séa. Acad. Sci., Paris 42: 775 – Type species (by monotypy) Aptenodytes minor J.R. Forster = Eudyptula minor (J.R. Forster).
Eudyptila Heine & Reichenow, 1890: Nom. Mus. Hein. Ornith.: 368. Unjustified emendation.
The Checklist Committee accepts that two Eudyptula taxa are present in New Zealand following the findings of Grosser et al. (2015, 2016, 2017). However, the Committee supports recognition of these taxa as subspecies rather than as species (contra Grosser et al. 2015). Support for these two clades is backed up by earlier results from J.C. Banks et al. (2002, 2008) and Peucker et al. (2009).
➤ Eudyptula minor (J.R. Forster)
Little Penguin
Southern Australia and Tasmania. In the New Zealand region, throughout on coastal North and South Islands; also Stewart / Rakiura and Chatham Islands (Kinsky & Falla 1976). Vagrants often reach the Snares Islands / Tini Heke (Miskelly et al. 2001a). Late Pleistocene fossils known (e.g. Worthy & Grant-Mackie 2003); often abundant in Holocene and midden deposits, throughout North, South, and Chatham Islands (Millener 1991; see also Appendix 1). Two subspecies recognised, both occurring in New Zealand. Although the two forms are genetically distinguishable, they are not identifiable in the field, and so the boundaries of their distributions and extent of sympatry in southern New Zealand is poorly known (Grosser et al. (2015, 2017).
The preferred common name for Eudyptula penguins is little penguin, following Marchant & Higgins (1990), Holdaway et al. (2001) and Dickinson (2003).
Eudyptula minor minor (J.R. Forster)
New Zealand Little Penguin | Kororā
Aptenodytes minor J.R. Forster, 1781: Comment. Phys. Soc. Reg. Sci. Gottingensis 3: 135 – Dusky Sound, Fiordland, and Queen Charlotte Sound, Marlborough Sounds, restricted to Queen Charlotte Sound (fide Miskelly, Shepherd et al. 2023, Zootaxa 5228(1): 92).
Catarrhactes minor (J.R. Forster); Cuvier, 1817: Règne Anim. 1: 551.
Chrysocoma minor (J.R. Forster); Stephens, 1826: in Shaw, General Zool. 13(1): 61.
Spheniscus minor (J.R. Forster); G.R. Gray 1843, in E. Dieffenbach, Travels in N.Z. 2: 199.
Spheniocus [sic] minor Temminck [sic]; Ellman 1861, Zoologist 19: 7472.
Spheniscus undina; Anon. 1870, Cat. Colonial Mus.: 76. Not Aptenodytes undina Gould, 1844 = E. m. novaehollandiae.
Eudyptula minor (J.R. Forster); Finsch 1872, Journ. für Ornith. 20: 262.
Eudyptula albosignata Finsch, 1874: Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1874 (14): 207 – Akaroa, Canterbury.
Eudyptila minor (J.R. Forster); Sharpe 1875, in Richardson & J.E. Gray (Eds), Zool. Voy. ‘Erebus’ & ‘Terror’, Birds – 1 (Appendix): 35.
Eudyptila albosignata Finsch; Sharpe 1875, in Richardson & J.E. Gray (Eds), Zool. Voy. ‘Erebus’ & ‘Terror’, Birds – 1 (Appendix): 35.
Eudyptula oblosignata Finsch; Buller 1876, Trans. Proc. N.Z. Inst. 8: 196. Unjustified emendation.
Eudyptula albosiquata Finsch; Buller 1876, Trans. Proc. N.Z. Inst. 8: 198. Unjustified emendation.
Eudyptula minor iredalei Mathews, 1911: Birds Australia 1: 286, pl. 67 – “Chatham Islands”, error for Motuora Island, Hauraki Gulf (fide Kinsky & Falla 1976, Nat. Mus. N.Z. Rec. 1(7): 119).
Eudyptula minor albosignata Finsch; Mathews & Iredale 1913, Ibis 1 (10th series): 222.
Eudyptula minor subspecies; Checklist Committee 1970, Annot. Checklist Birds N.Z.: 16.
Eudyptula minor minor (J.R. Forster); Checklist Committee 1970, Annot. Checklist Birds N.Z.: 17.
Eudyptula minor chathamensis Kinsky & Falla, 1976: Nat. Mus. N.Z. Rec. 1(7): 115 – Star Keys, Chatham Islands.
Eudyptula minor variabilis Kinsky & Falla, 1976: Nat. Mus. N.Z. Rec. 1(7): 116 – Mahina Bay, Wellington Harbour.
Eudyptula minor (J.R. Forster); Checklist Committee 1990, Checklist Birds N.Z.: 69. In part.
Widespread throughout coastal North and South Islands and the Chatham Islands but largely replaced by the Australian little penguin in Otago since human settlement (Grosser et al. 2015, 2016).
No type specimen is known to survive (Forster 1781, Medway 1976b). Miskelly, Shepherd et al. (2023) nominated a neotype for Eudyptula minor, based on a specimen from Queen Charlotte Sound genotyped as being of the New Zealand clade (cf. E. m. novaehollandiae, which is sympatric with E. m. minor in the southern South Island).
Eudyptula minor novaehollandiae (Stephens)
Australian Little Penguin
Spheniscus Novae Hollandiae Stephens, 1826: in Shaw, General Zool. 13(1): 68 – Port Jackson, New South Wales, Australia.
Aptenodytes australis “Gray”; Griffith 1829, Anim. Kingd. 8: 53 – Sydney, Australia.
Aptenodytes undina Gould, 1844: Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1844 (12): 57 – “Van Diemen’s Land” = Tasmania, Australia.
Eudyptula undina (Gould); Hutton 1871, Cat. Birds N.Z.: 54.
Eudyptila undina (Gould); Sharpe 1875, in Richardson & J.E. Gray (Eds), Zool. Voy. ‘Erebus’ & ‘Terror’, Birds – 1 (Appendix): 35. Misspelling.
Eudyptula minor woodwardi Mathews, 1912: Novit. Zool. 18(3): 199 – Sandy Hook Island, Western Australia.
Eudyptula minor undina (Gould); White 1918, South Austr. Ornith. 3(6): 168.
Eudyptula minor novaehollandiae (Stephens); Checklist Committee 1953, Checklist N.Z. Birds: 14.
Eudyptula minor minor; Kinsky & Falla 1976, Nat. Mus. N.Z. Rec. 1(7): 111. Not Eudyptula minor minor (J.R. Forster, 1781).
Eudyptula minor (J.R. Forster); Checklist Committee 1990, Checklist Birds N.Z.: 69. In part.
Eudyptula novaehollandiae (Stephens); Grosser, Burridge, Peucker & Waters 2015, PLOS One 10(12): e0144966. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0144966: 12.
Southern Australia (including Tasmania) and Otago, New Zealand (Grosser et al. 2015). The arrival of this taxon in New Zealand post-dates human settlement (Grosser et al. 2016).