Proposal (#22) to South American Check-list 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 Azścar during the summers
of 1990 and 1992. In January of 1995 an individual was sighted on the beaches
of Isla Cha–aral 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
Ornitolog’a 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 OlmuŽ, 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
Ornitolog’a 6: 45-46.)
Then more recently the
following was published:
Wilson, Rory P., A. Simeone, y P. McGill. 2000. Nota complementaria
a la observaci—n de un pinguino
azul Eudyptula minor en la costa
de Santo Domingo. Bol. Chileno de Ornitolog’a 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
Biologist
San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory
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 "