Falklands local 'Rocky'.    

Rockhoppers are smallest of the Falkland's penguins, 45 - 55 cm (17.7 - 21.7 inches). They are a crested penguin with bright yellow plumes on either side of the head, bright red eyes and orange bill. Males are larger than females. Rockhoppers are noisy and aggressive and are usually found in huge rocky cliff-top colonies, often alongside King Cormorants. Nests are usually just depressions between rocks. Two eggs are laid, the first egg is smaller than the second. Chicks form creches about January and moult in February. By late February/ early March they leave for the sea. By mid April the adults have moulted and left the colony to return to the sea as well.

The Falklands rockhopper's diet is predominantly crustacean prey, cephalopods and fish.

Southern rockhoppers breed on the Falklands, southern Patagonia, Marion Island, Crozet Island, Kerguelen Island, Macquarie Island and Campbell Island. The Falklands host 29% of the world's population of these penguins.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists Southern Rockhopper penguins as 'Vulnerable'.

Sources include: Falkland Islands State of the Environment Report 2008 Otley H, Munro G, Clausen A, Ingham B. A Field Guide to the Wildlife of The Falkland Islands and South Georgia - Ian J Strange, Guide to Birds of the Falkland Islands- Robin W. Woods.

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