Snares Penguins
Scientific Name: Eudyptes Robustus  

Snares penguins are birds with black and white feathers. They belong to a group of penguins called crested penguins. If you look at the picture of the Snares penguin you can see the broad crest of feathers extending from the beak, over the eyes and to the back of the head. They look much like the Fiordland penguins. The Snares penguins do not have the white patches on their cheek that the Fiordland penguins have. Their bill is thicker and heavier with white skin around the base of the bill.

The Snares penguin, when full grown, stands about 60 cm tall and weighs about 3 kg.

Snares penguins are sometimes called Snares-crested because they are the crested penguin on Snares Island. Sometimes they are just called Snares Island penguins.

Snares penguins make a nest by scraping out a shallow depression in the ground. They make nests in large, closely packed groups. The nests are built under the cover of the forest trees on Snares Island and on the rocky coast. The waste from the penguins has been known to kill the trees of the forest creating open areas where the nests had been. The nest is lined with vegetation like twigs and leaves and branches. The female usually lays two eggs. Like many other penguins, only the second egg will survive to hatch. The egg is kept warm and protected for about 37 days. This is called incubation. Each parent takes a turn incubating the egg, each turn lasts several days. When a parent is not watching the egg, it is hunting for food in the ocean.

After about 37 days the egg will hatch. The male penguin will now watch over the young chick. This is called brooding. The chick is covered with downy feathers at this time. It is the mother's responsibility to get food to bring back to the chick. The brooding period lasts about 28 days. At the end of the brooding period, the chick is mature enough to form small groups with other chicks. These small groups are called crèches. Each chick knows its parents and will come to its parents who feed it daily now until it is about 75 days old. It is at this time when the chicks will lose their baby feathers and grow adult feathers. This is called molting. When the molting is complete the young penguin will go to sea to hunt for its own food.

The Snares penguin likes to eat a small sea animal called krill. It also eats some squid and fish.