VOL. 10 (1) MARCH 1983 19

A Record of the Erect-crested Eudyptes sclateri from Phillip Island, Victoria By R. S. BROWN, 42 Ivan Street, North Fitzroy, Victoria 3068

Introduction On 22 February 1979 the author and others followed up a report by Mr C. Nancarrow, a Fisheries and Wildlife Officer, of a moulting 'crested' penguin at Berrys Beach on Phillip Island. We found the standing on a rock ledge about two metres above sea level at the western end of the beach. Photographs, descriptions and approximate bill and flipper measurements were taken. The bi.I;d was identified by D. Eades and the author as an Erect­ crested Penguin, Eudyptes sclateri.

Detailed Description Size: Total length when stretched out was 640 mm, the approximate standing height 430 mm. Bill: The stout brownish-orange bill was 52.2 mm in length and displayed a noticeably straight culmen ridge not bowed as in E. pachy­ rhynchus (Brown and Corrick 1979) . The bill viewed from above also lacked the bowed lateral plates of E. pachyrhynchus. The edge of the lower mandible was bordered with a thin line of white fleshy skin which extended into the gape where it became thicker and pinkish in colour. Tarsus: The legs and feet were flesh-coloured with blue-grey edges to the webs. Iris: Brown with a reddish highlight. Dorsal body surface: New feathers appearing around head were a velvet black. Remainder of the old feathers on the upper parts were dark greyish with distinct bluish tips. Ventral body surface: White. The triangular shape of the throat region was noted as described by Warham (in Hutchins & Parker 1976). Flipper: Disproportionately long (215 mm), and seemed to hang much further down the body than in other Eudyptes. The bold blue-black and white under-flipper pattern was distinctive of sclateri and consisted basic­ ally of a white parallelogram surrounded on three sides by blue-black (Plate 10). Upper side was a blackish blue, with a white trailing edge approximately 5 mm thick at the centre narrowing out to a point about 30 mm from the flipper tip. Supercilium: The old feathers appeared very pale yellow, almost white, with darker brownish tips. Some new feathers appearing at the base of the crest were bright yellow. The crest arose from just above the gape near the base of the latericorn at an angle of approximately 40° and terminated at a point on the side of the crown about 50 mm behind the eye. AUSTRALIAN 20 BROWN BIRD WATCHER

Under-flipper of Erect-crested Penguin. P late 10 Dra wing from photograph: R. S. Brown Sex: The measurements taken were not conclusive but they seem to suggest a pre-breeding male. The flipper length was 215 mm compared with averages of 212 mm for adult males and 204 mm for adult females. The bill was 52.2 mm long and 28.8 mm in depth compared with 58.5 mm and 26.0 mm for adult males and 52.5 mm and 22.6 mm for adult females (Warham 1975). Moult: The bird was in full active moult, the only new feathers showing were on the crown, frons, chin and at the base of the crest. The tail was moulted out. The bird was fat and in good condition. It is interesting to note that this bird completed its entire moult between 18 and 28 February, a period of 10 days (D. Robinson et a!. , pers. comm.) . The at Lady Julia Percy Island took 6 days to moult the feathers of the upper breast, shoulder, flippers and part of the head (Brown and Corrick 1979) . The bird was still present several days beyond this period (M. J. Carter, pers. comm.). The average moulting period for sclateri is 4-5 weeks (War ham 1975) . Discussion The Erect-crested Penguin at Phillip Island was distinguished from other Eudyptes by the following characteristics: (a) Flipper length and underwing pattern. (b) Bill shape and size. (c) Crest position and structure. (d) Head colouring. (e) Shape of throat region. One can speculate on the occurrence of this bird and several other Eudyptes arriving in the waters of southern Australia during this summer. A possibility is that circular ocean currents sweeping up from the south­ west, originating below the subtropical convergence, could carry into southern Australian waters fish which Eudyptes prey upon. This could result in a spate of crested penguin records in Victoria and South Australia. The only evidence I can provide to support this suggestion is a comment by a professional fisherman who informed me that many species of New Zealand fi sh had been caught in the Port Fairy region during the months January to March 1979 (J. Abernathy, pers. comm.). The Erect-crested Penguin breeds on Antipodes, Campbell and Bounty Islands, south-west of New Zealand (Serventy 1971). The breeding season is from September to January, and is followed by about a month's post-nuptial feeding. This is a much shorter premoult fattening period VOL. 10 (1) MARCH 1983 Record of E rect-crested Penguin, Phillip Is., Vic. 21

Erect-crested Penguin, Phillip Island, Victoria, 22 February 1979. Plate II Photo: R. S. Brown

than the Fiordland's 60 to 75 days. Warham (1975) suggests this could be due to the Erect-crested having access to a richer food so urce. The then return to their breeding sites to moult during March before dispersing to sea until the next breeding season (Warham 1975). I can find reference to five other records in Australia of E. sclateri in the literature - two in Victoria, and one each in Tasmania, N.S.W. , and South Australia. The bird on Phillip Island probably comprises th e sixth record for Australia and the third for Victoria. Acknowledgements I would like to thank Mr. C. Nancarrow of the Fisheries and Wildlife Division, Victoria (Phillip Island), for informing us of the bird's presence. Also T. Clarke, C. Doughty, D . Eades and M. C. Carter for their vario us assistance, and D. Deerson for typing the manuscript. References Brown, R. S. & Corrick, A. H. (1979), 'A Moulting Fiordland Penguin on Lady Julia Percy Island, Victoria,' The Australian Bird Watcher vo l. 8, 61-64. Hitchcock, W. B. (1956), 'A Second Australian Specimen of the Erect-crested Penguin,' Emu vol. 56, 431-432. Hutchins, B. R. & Parker, S. A. (1976) , 'First Record of the Erect-cresterl Penguin Eudyptes sc/ateri from South Australia,' South Australian Ornithologist vol. 27 , 146-147. Serventy, D. L., Serventy, V. N. & War ham, J. (1971) , The Handbook of A us­ tralian Sea-birds, A. H . & A. W. Reed, Sydney. Slater, P. (1970) , A Field Guide to Australian Birds, non-passerines, Rigby, Adelaide. War ham, J. (1975) , The Crested , in Stonehouse, B. (ed.), The Biology of Penguins, pp.189-269, Macmillan, London. •