Form & Function

     The Southern Rockhopper penguin varies in size from males to females. Males tend to be slightly larger than the females. Both sexes, however, have the characteristic yellow stripe above their eyes. Their eyes are red with a red-brown beak and pink legs and feet (Bingham 2014).

    Penguins prove to be a unique organism in one particular aspect of their physiology. It’s common to think that everything that has wings should be able to fly; however, in the case of the Southern Rockhopper penguin, its wings are completely useless in flight (Dehnhard et al. 2013a). Instead, the wings are used in the water and act as fins or flippers to help the penguin maneuver throughout the water. Water is only one medium of locomotion for penguins, though. They also can walk and use their tails and wings for balance.

    Overall, Southern Rockhopper penguins do not adjust well to changes in their environment. When an environmental change occurs and conditions become unfavorable, Southern Rockhopper penguins face serious devastation. Breeding success is diminished and can be impeded completely along with an increase in adult mortality. The combination of these problems results in fluctuations in the number of penguins in a population (Dehnhard et al. 2013b). For example, a study has shown that Eudyptes chrysocome reacts sensitively to the environmental change in sea surface temperatures (SST; Dehnhard et al. 2013a) because SST changes decrease food availability at low trophic levels (Dehnhard et al. 2013b). Decreased food availability equates to limited prey, and because these penguins feed mostly on prey toward the bottom of the food chain, they are impacted immediately. This can be especially dangerous during molting periods because the molting process requires more energy than penguins typically need  (Dehnhard et al. 2013a).

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