Meet the Tawaki, the most fabulous penguins I've had the pleasure of working with. (Photo by Jeff White) Have you ever wondered what it’s like to conduct penguin research? Well you’re in luck, because I have spent all of October assisting my friend and University of Miami PhD student Jeff White while conducting research on penguins in New Zealand. When imagining penguin research and what it would entail, I pictured ice, cold, and big open views of cloudy skies. What I didn’t picture was wrestling tree ferns and getting caught by lianas (vines) while being followed by kākā (mountain parrots). However, the latter scenario has been my reality for the last month, as Jeff studies, Tawaki , a species of penguin that lives in the temperate rainforests of Fiordland on the south-western edge of the South Island in New Zealand. The temperate rainforest, ideal Tawaki nesting habitat. (Photo by Bree Gibbs) Since 2017, Jeff has been coming to the South Island to conduct research on penguin colonies in Milford and Doubtful Sounds in Fiordland. This year,I have been helping him collect data with the Tawaki Project, a New Zealand nonprofit studying the penguins, as relatively little is known about them. Jeff’s research is on stable isotopes, learning about what the penguins eat and where they eat it. Stable isotopes are variations of the same element with different atomic weight. While we can’t directly ask the penguins where they go during the year, Jeff can use a few of their feathers and a small blood sample to determine what they’ve been feeding on over a time period from days to weeks by looking at the relative abundance of stable isotopes in his samples. The timing of Tawaki research is essential: the penguins are only here in New Zealand during certain times of the year. Between September and early November they are here nesting, and then they are back for a short period from January through early March when they molt their feathers. The rest of the year, these rad little birds are out swimming halfway to Antarctica foraging for small fish and squid. Field season takes place for us and the rest of the Tawaki Project during the nesting season, since both male and female penguins are reliably found in or near their nests, protecting, feeding, and raising their chicks. View of Harrison Cove, an area in Milford Sound that we worked in a lot this season, you get a nice sense of the glacier we were camping (far) beneath. (Photo by Bree Gibbs) Ideal nests for Tawaki are rather difficult to reach as a grown adult – they love living in small rock caves and sea caves along coastlines. One of their favorite places to nest is inside the root balls of felled trees in the forest. From what I’ve seen, the Tawaki mentality seems to be: the less accessible, the better! The two fjords that we worked in were called Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound, and they had some important differences in the work environment. Milford Sound is easier to access, and as such has become home to numerous invasive species, including rats, possums, and stoats (picture a tiny weasel) – all of whom pose threats to native wildlife, including Tawaki. Part of conducting research on the colony we work with includes a stoat trap run, trying to ensure the safety of the colony for the nesting Tawaki that are raising chicks there. This colony is made up of about 25 nesting pairs, and they have been well-studied by the Tawaki Project over the years. While working in Doubtful Sound, we were stationed on predator-free islands. The name is a bit misleading, as it means that there are no non-native predators to Tawaki running around in the forest, but there are still numerous threats to chicks including weka, another type of flightless bird that was very interested in all of the elements of our campsite. While the Milford colony that we worked with preferred rock cave nests, the Tawaki on the islands in Doubtful loved rootballs and tight root structures that were very difficult to get into. For our work, we were looking at comparisons between male and female Tawaki, which is tough because the female Tawaki at this time of year are out foraging for meals to feed their chicks, while the male Tawaki fast and sit in the nest to protect the chicks. . Like other crested penguins, Tawaki lay two eggs in the nest, and though both hatch, usually only one chick will survive to fledging. Like all fieldwork, this project has featured some very high highs, and some funny-after-the-fact lows. In Milford Sound we got to camp in a valley under a beautiful glacier that could only be reached by a kayaking commute. The consequential low affiliated with kayaking to work is that at the end of the season, I was overconfident in my ability to get into my mode of transportation and successfully toppled my kayak in about a foot of water – soaking myself, significantly lowering my pride, and ruining a lifelong streak of not flipping a kayak. In order to collect our samples, we needed to handle penguins, which was, of course, a lifelong dream of mine. Who doesn’t look at a penguin and want to give it a cuddle?! Well, as biology would have it, Tawaki are rage-filled beings, disproportionate to their 3kg size. They have immensely strong beaks that they use to bite and rip around, powerful flippers that they wave about with far more strength than I initially anticipated, and fantastically sharp nails on their feet for, you know, climbing up rocks and the forest. While I did not cuddle any penguins, I did handle many, and I have a lot of respect for everyone who works with any and all penguin species. It has been such a privilege to have the opportunity to volunteer with both Jeff and the Tawaki Project, as I’m not sure whether I would have gotten to experience so much of Fiordland on my own. These amazing little birds have a lot of character, and I cannot wait to hear more about what we learn about them in the years to come. One of our first selfies from an epic season. (Photo by Jeff White) If you are interested in learning more about the Tawaki Project, you can do so here. And if you are interested in supporting the Tawaki Project, you can donate here on Patreon or make a one time donation here. And you can shop for Tawaki Project merch here.
2 Comments
Karen Gibbs
1/27/2023 04:38:24 pm
Super interesting! Cool to learn about penguins I didn’t even know existed!
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Lisa Brault
1/27/2023 05:20:01 pm
This was so interesting and exciting. I love sharing your adventure through your blog. And how bummed am I to find penguins aren't the cuddly animals I always thought they were. Keep the adventures coming. And keep taking lots of pictures!.
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AuthorBree Gibbs, here. I'm a recent Master's Grad just trying to share what it's like to be a trash scientist (for those who aren't in the know, I'm a marine biologist). Categories
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