Those
little penguins can be found mostly in Tristan da Cunha Archipelago. The
residents call them Pinnamins. They are similar to the Southern species,
however, you can notice the one from Tristan have longer yellow and black feathers
above eyes. Which makes them look very fancy!
source: photovolcanica.com |
Unfortunatelly,
the population of Northern Rockhopper had declined about 90% (!) since the
1950s. This is why this species is classified as endangered. Pinnamins
feeds on sea life like krill, crustacean or little fish. They live near the
shore and on cliff sides. The biggest population can be found on Gough Island,
over than 95% of all Rockhoopers in the Archipelago. The rest are settle in
Inaccessible and Nightingale Islands and just some of them (no more than 5000)
can be seen on Tristan da Cunha Island at Jew’s Point. They came to breed in
August and lay 2-3 eggs in September. Next month fluffy chicks are screaming
for food.
source: arkive.org |
Interesting
is the fact, that after feeding the chicks for 3-4 weeks (till about March) adults have no feathers. Every year they moult! And can’t swim that time. So for few
weeks they are just standing, not moving so they won’t give away any quant of
energy till the new stylish feathers have grown. You can just imagine how
smelly the place is after having thousands of penguins doing all their needs
there. However, their guano is perfect for agriculture. That is why, the Islanders
harvest it every year from all islands. They call it Guano Trip. Classy.
source: photovolcanic.com |
One more
great fact? The Pinnamins have to be very very very agile! They are really
small (not higher than 30 cm) and they need to overcome steep and high
rocks. All species of penguins cannot fly. So they jump. They are hopping. That
is why they are called Rockhoppers. They hop every day up and down to feed
their chicks.
source: ibc.lynxeds.com |
And besides
all of this, they still have time to... be famous!
source: cinema.it |
source: kidsmovies.about.com |
The one
with great hairstyle and perfectly matched colors of sweater is Lovelace from ‘Happy
feet’ and the
other one also with a enthusiastic arranged hair and chic necklace is Cody from ‘Surf up’.
Aren’t they great?
All the information was taken from official webpage: tristandc.com and wikipedia.en
All the information was taken from official webpage: tristandc.com and wikipedia.en