Proposal (22) to South American Classification Committee:
Add Eudyptula minor to official SACC list
This is
a short proposal to add the Little Penguin (=Little Blue Penguin, Fairy
Penguin, Blue Penguin) Eudyptula minor to the list of birds that have
occurred in Chile. There are three publications to consider. First the species was reported in the III
Region of Chile. Two or three were reported by fishermen near the island of Pan
de Azúcar during the summers of 1990 and 1992. In January of 1995 an individual
was sighted on the beaches of Isla Chañaral de Aceituno where it was apparently
photographed (Valverde, V. and H. Oyarzo. 1996. Registros de Eudyptula minor
(Spheniscidae) en la costa de la region de Atacama, Chile. Bol. Chileno de
Ornitología 3: 42-43). The photos are noted to be held by the first author of
that paper. Then on March 16, 1997 a "juvenile" penguin was found on
the beaches of Santo Domingo in the V Region and brought to a bird
rehabilitation center. The bird died after three weeks and was deposited in the
collection of the Museo de San Antonio with number MMSA-AV-289. Initially the
bird was thought to be a chick of the Humboldt Penguin, but photos were shown
at the Penguin conference held in Olmué, Chile in 1998 to various experts and
they identified the bird as Eudyptula minor (Brito, J.L. 1999. Segundo
registro para Chile del pinguino azul Eudyptula minor Spheniscidae) en
la costa de Santo Domingo. Bol. Chileno de Ornitología 6: 45-46.)
Then
more recently the following was published:
Wilson, Rory P., A. Simeone, y P. McGill. 2000. Nota
complementaria a la observación de un pinguino azul Eudyptula minor en
la costa de Santo Domingo. Bol. Chileno de Ornitología 7: 30-31.
The
important part of the note is that it mentions that the specimen held at the
Museo Municipal de Ciencias Naturales y Arqueologia de San Antonio was
examined. They affirmed the correct identification of the specimen as Eudyptula
and that it was an adult in moult, not a juvenile or chick as
noted in Brito 1999. There are other sightings of this species in Chile. Wilson
et al suggest that these birds are found on the coast of Chile during their
moult, as they cannot swim during these times. They do not discard ship
assisted passage, but given that other penguins have shown patterns of
vagrancy, I don't know why these cannot be wild individuals. Given that a
specimen is present, and has been studied by a penguin expert, I suggest that
we should list the species for South America. I could make an effort to get a
copy of the photo listed in Valverde and Oyarzo, or even contact Rory Wilson
for more information (perhaps a photo of the specimen?). In any case, I feel
that this is a good, solid addition to the South American list. regards
Alvaro Jaramillo
Additional
comment from Alvaro: "A photo has recently been posted on an Internet site
dealing with Chilean birds of one of the Little Penguins records from
Chile. Here is the link:
http://aveschilenas.tripod.com/265.htm "