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Threats to a Mixed-Species Colony of Spheniscus Penguins in Southern ChileAuthor(s): Alejandro Simeone and Roberto P. SchlatterSource: Colonial Waterbirds, Vol. 21, No. 3 (1998), pp. 418-421Published by: Waterbird SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1521654Accessed: 11-08-2014 23:36 UTC
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8/12/2019 Simeone, A., R. P. Schlatter. 1998. Threats to a mixed species colony of Spheniscus penguins in southern Chile. C
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Threats to a
Mixed-Species Colony
of
Spheniscus
Penguins
in
Southern Chile
ALEJANDRO
IMEONE1
ND ROBERTOP. SCHLATTER2
Instituto
de
Zoologia,
Universidad Austral
de
Chile. Casilla
567, Valdivia,
Chile
lInternet: [email protected]
2Internet: [email protected]
Abstract.-The
Pufiihuil
islands,
off
the coast of
Chiloe,
southern
Chile,
have the
only
known mixed
colony
of
Humboldt
(Spheniscus
humboldti)
nd
Magellanic penguins
(S.
magellanicus).
Since first
reported
in
1985,
the
colony
has
experienced
heavy
human
disturbance,
mainly
caused
by non-regulated
tourist activities and the introduction
of domestic
goats.
On the island closest to shore and most
frequently
visited
by
tourists,
28%
of
dirt burrows
have
collapsed, mainly by
accidental
trampling
and
goat activity.
In
addition,
goats
browse
the
vegetation
used
by pen-
guins
to build their nests. On
the island located farthest
offshore,
with no
goats
and fewer
tourists,
only
10%
of
dirt
burrows have
collapsed. Comparison
with
previous population
estimates
suggests
that the
colony
has declined over
the last decade. Considering the important biological value as a mixed colony of Spheniscus enguins, we propose
that these islands be
officially
protected.
Received
3
February
998,
accepted
6
May
1998.
Key
words.-Humboldt
Penguin, Magellanic Penguin,
tourism,
introduced
animals,
Chile.
Colonial
Waterbirds
21(3):
418421,
1998
In
southern South
America,
the Hum-
boldt
Penguin (Spheniscus
humboldti) IUCN
Vulnerable,
CITES
Appendix
I)
breeds on
coastal and offshore islands of the Pacific
Ocean
from Punta
Aguja
(5?S)
in
Peru to the
Pufiihuil islands (41?S) in Chile (Hays 1985;
Araya
et
al.
1996),
although
in
Per6 some
mainland
breeding
also
occurs
(Zavalaga
and Paredes
1997).
The
Magellanic Penguin
(S.
magellanicus)
(IUCN
Near
Threatened)
breeds on both the Atlantic and Pacific
coasts of South
America,
from
Cape
Horn to
42?S
on
the Atlantic side and
from
Tierra del
Fuego
to
29?S
on the Pacific
coast,
and
on
the Falkland Islands
(Williams 1995).
The two species overlap only on the Pacif-
ic
coast,
primarily
between
32?S
and
42?S.
On
Pajaro
Nifio and
Cachagua
islands
(32?S),
where two
significant
Humboldt
Penguin
colonies
occur,
only
ten to 15
pairs
of
Magellanic Penguins
have been seen to
nest
(A.
S., pers.
obs.).
On
Metalqui
island
(42?S),
where
Magellanic penguins
nest
in
large
numbers,
the Humboldt
Penguin
has
been
recently reported
to
occur,
but
breed-
ing has not been confirmed (Simeone and
Hucke-Gaete
1997).
The
present paper
describes the
only
known mixed
colony
of
Spheniscus enguins,
at the Pufiihuil
Islands,
and current
prob-
lems derived from introduced animals and
non-regulated
tourism.
STUDY
AREAAND
METHODS
The Pufiihuil islands (41?55'S, 74?02'W) are located
on the
exposed
Pacific coast of
Chiloe
Island,
in south-
ern
Chile.
The
first and
smallest island
(Island 1)
is
about 400
m
offshore. It is
covered
by bushy vegetation
including
Quila
(Chusquea
p.), Chupalla
Fascicular-
ia
bicolor),
Chup6n (Greigia sphacelata)
and
grasses
(Holcus
lanatus and
Anthoxantum
odoratum),
although
there are extensive bare surfaces. At
least six
goats
have
been seen on
this
island,
introduced
approximately
10
years ago.
The
second and
biggest
island
(Island 2)
is lo-
cated about 700
m
from the coast. It is
mainly
covered
by
Chusquea
p.,
and has a
large
amount of
H.
lanatus
and A.
odoratum.
ome E
bicolor
atches
also
occur.
Besides
penguins,
other
seabird
species
such
as
the
Kelp
Gull
(Larus
dominicanus)
and
Red-legged
Cormo-
rant
(Phalacrocorax
aimardi)
breed
at
the
islands.
Also
present
but
with
breeding
unconfirmed
are
Magellan
Cormorant
(Phalacrocorax
magellanicus),
Blue-eyed
Cor-
morant
(Phalacrocorax
triceps),
Chilean Pelican
(Peleca-
nus
thagus), Kelp
Goose
(Chloephaga hybrida)
and
Magellanic Flightless
Steamer Duck
(Tachyeresteneres).
The islands were visited
during
26-27
February
1997.
Previous
attempts
to access the islands in November
1996
andJanuary
1997
were
aborted
due
to
bad weather
conditions.
We used a
Zodiac
boat with a 15
Hp
out-
board
motor.
Each nest was
individually
checked
and
we
recorded
the number of adults and chicks at each, as well as the
size of the chicks
(according
to
plumage/down
cover-
age).
Five
penguin
nest
types
were
recognized:
a)
scrapes
covered
by
Fascicularia
bicolor,
)
scrapes
covered
by
Greigia
phacelata,
)
scrapes
covered
by
Chusquea p.,
d)
dirt
burrows
and
e)
rock crevices.
Damage
to nests
418
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8/12/2019 Simeone, A., R. P. Schlatter. 1998. Threats to a mixed species colony of Spheniscus penguins in southern Chile. C
3/5
CHILEANPENGUINCONSERVATION
(i.e.
trampling)
and
vegetation
(i.e.
browsing, burning)
attributed to introduced animals
or man was recorded.
Penguins
roosting
in flocks on intertidal
rocks
were
counted,
using
7
x
50 binoculars and a 60
x
spotting
scope.
RESULTS
During
our
visit,
we
observed
a total of
775
penguins
both inside nests
(535)
and
roosting
on rocks
(240).
We counted 561
adult
Magellanic
and
210
adult Humboldt
penguins
(ratio 3:1),
of
which
55%
and
10%
were
molting,
respectively.
Only
four
juve-
niles
were
sighted.
Six
nests had
chicks,
all of
them
belonging
to Humboldt
penguins;
no
active nests with eggs were seen.
A
total of 814 nests was recorded
for the
two
islands,
with dirt burrows
comprising
72%
and
scrapes
covered
by
Chusquea
sp.
18%
(Table
1).
The other three nest
types
ac-
counted
for
the
remaining
10%.
The
num-
ber of nests under
large
dense
aggregations
of
vegetation (particularly Chusquea p.
and
G.
sphacelata)
s
an
underestimate,
as
many
of
them were inaccessible.
Nests
activity
and nest
types
We counted a total of
285
nests
on
island
1
(Table 1).
Both
Magellanic
and Humboldt
penguins
were
seen
primarily
in
dirt bur-
rows,
which
comprised
72%
of total nests.
Only
three dirt burrows
were
active,
two con-
taining
one adult Humboldt
Penguin
with
one chick each
(30-40
days
old)
and
the oth-
er one adult
Humboldt
Penguin
with two
chicks
(+/-
30
days
old).
One nest contained
an
abandoned
egg.
A total of 529 nests was recorded on is-
land
2
(Table 1).
Both
species
of
penguins
occurred
mainly
in
dirt
burrows,
which also
comprised
72%
of the nest
types.
Three
ac-
tive
nests
(dirt burrows)
were
recorded,
each
with one adult
Humboldt
Penguin
and one
chick,
all estimated
to be 40-50
days
of
age.
Two
nests contained abandoned
eggs.
In
addition,
236
adult birds were seen
roosting
on
the shore of
the
islands,
includ-
ing
small
adjacent
rookeries: 131
Magellanic
and 105 Humboldt
penguins,
of which
7%
and
12%
were
molting,
respectively.
Only
4
juveniles
were
sighted.
Damage
to nests and
nesting
areas
Comparatively,
island
1
showed the
high-
est
proportion
of
collapsed
dirt burrows with
28% and island 2 the lowest with 10% (X2 =
28.46,
df
=
1,
P