Recovery of the King Penguin, Aptenodytes-Patagonicus, Population on Heard Island

Abstract

Since their recolonisation of Heard I. the number of breeding pairs of king penguins, Aptenodytes patagonicus, has increased dramatically, particularly during the last decade. The Spit Bay south colony is doubling in size every 2.7 years and the Spit Bay north colony every 6.9 years. The observed rate of increase of the colonies, F=0.256 in the former and F=0.101 in the latter, are greater than that estimated for king penguins on Macquarie I. It is not known whether this difference is due to the reproductive capacity of the Heard I. population or because of immigration.