The Little Penguin Eudyptula Minor in Victoria, II: Breeding

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Abstract
Little Penguins were studied in the main breeding colony at Phillip Island, Victoria, on weekly and monthly visits for 11 yr. The birds were present all year but numbers built up towards the onset of the breeding season, showing a 3-wk attendance cycle. Breeding numbers varied slightly year to year with a more marked drop in 1978 and perhaps 1973. The timing of breeding also differed from year to year, varying within a year and from year to year much more than in other seabirds of temperate latitudes. On average Aug.-Nov. each produced about the same number of young, though in any 1 yr there could be differences between these months. There were individual differences in breeding efficiency associated with the length of time a bird was recorded in the area. These reflected differences in individual quality rather than in age or experience. Pair bonding and divorce are described. Birds that had bred before and changed mates nested earlier in the next season than they did in the previous season with the old mate. Failure to breed by adults was exceptional but may occur in some years. Few birds banded as chicks were found breeding but those that were apparently were 3 or 4 yr old. There were some marked differences between the breeding of the species at Phillip Island and in Tasmania. Various features of the breeding of the little penguin are considered from the point of view of strategies to enhance reproductive success: burrow choice, clutch size, age of 1st breeding, pair bonding pattern and timing of the breeding season. Regarding the last, the population on Phillip Island is intermediate between typical penguins of polar and sub-polar regions and those of some of the tropical genus Spheniscus, which show opportunistic breeding throughout the year.