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The Tawaki Project @tawaki-project.org · Jul 10

A Tawaki Project double-whammy! 🎉 After Myrene’s paper came out last week, we’ve now got a follow-up study highlighting just how adaptable tawaki are finding food at sea - a huge advantage in our rapidly changing world.

As always, Open Access and free to read:
peerj.com/articles/196...

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The Tawaki Project @tawaki-project.org · Jul 8

After three years of hard work, @myrene_ventures has published her first scientific paper! 🎉 It suggests Tawaki might handle our changing world better than many other penguins.

It’s Open Access - go have a read! doi.org/10.7717/peer...

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The Tawaki Project @tawaki-project.org · Apr 3

The big Bounty-Antipodes Expedition 2024 report is finally out!

It's jam packed with the info about the work we've been doing on the sub-antarctic Bounty and Antipodes Island including penguins (obviously), albatross, elephant seals - and more archaeological discoveries!

-> bit.ly/bounty-antip...

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The Tawaki Project @tawaki-project.org · Mar 4

We visited a remote sea cave in to establish another colony of marked penguins. The tagging process takes just five minutes, and then the penguins are free to go about their day. With an automatic reader at the cave entrance we will track each bird’s fate without ever disturbing them again.

The Tawaki Project @tawaki-project.org · Mar 4

That's why we're taking a different approach. By tracking annual survival and recruitment rates, we can model population trends more accurately. To do this, we implant microchips in penguins, allowing us to monitor them over several years.

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The Tawaki Project @tawaki-project.org · Mar 4

Tawaki are notoriously hard to find, making it nearly impossible to know their exact population size. This also means we can't easily tell whether their numbers are stable, growing, or declining.

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The Tawaki Project @tawaki-project.org · Mar 3

The 2025 tawaki moult period is coming to an end. In Patra/Doubtful Sound most penguins have finished their 'scruffy' phase and are sporting a new coat of feathers.

In the next week or two they will all leave on their big autumn-winter journey to the subantarctic region.

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The Tawaki Project @tawaki-project.org · Feb 14

We're having a déjà vu! Different species (Erect-crested penguin), much closer to home (NZ mainland), but same story as yesterday. 🤪

www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin...

Call to keep distance from rare penguin

A rare penguin has made its way to St Clair Beach as part of its marathon moulting journey. An Otago Daily Times reader spotted the erect-crested...

www.odt.co.nz

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The Tawaki Project @tawaki-project.org · Feb 14

News about the Snares penguin in South America has hit the national news too. 🐧🌎

www.nzherald.co.nz/the-country/...

Happy Feat: Chilean officials stunned as NZ penguin turns up 7500km from home

A native NZ penguin has made an 'extremely unusual' visit to a seaside city in Chile.

www.nzherald.co.nz

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The Tawaki Project @tawaki-project.org · Feb 11

CNN Chile: A Snares penguin has appeared in Punta Arenas. Described as a 'historic sighting', it might not be as unusual as it seems. We do know of Snares penguins on the Falkland Islands. In recent years, other tawaki species were spotted in Argentina. Still cool!!

www.cnnchile.com/pais/pinguin...

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The Tawaki Project @tawaki-project.org · Feb 9

Tawaki are showing up along the southeast coast of the South Island for their annual moult. They should be pretty difficult to spot - unless they come out of their hideyholes for a quick drink. In that case, it's important to give them room and leave them in peace.

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The Tawaki Project @tawaki-project.org · Feb 4

Not bad... the news page of Science reports on the camera loggers we developed to be able to see what tawaki do underwater...
www.science.org/content/arti...

ScienceAdviser: Lights, camera… penguin?

Today in Science and science: Seismological ghostbusting, borrowing a page from cancer’s playbook, and more

www.science.org

Reposted by The Tawaki Project

Jeff White @jeffwwhite.bsky.social · Dec 21

Just a week ago we were packing and prepping for pick up from Antipodes Island. 2.5 months of exhausting field work flew by with this amazing team. Couldn’t ask for better people to study penguins with. Thanks for another great season @tawaki-project.org

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The Tawaki Project @tawaki-project.org · Dec 13

Last day of streaming from the Antipodes Islands. We're going home tomorrow.

tawaki.cam/antipodes

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The Tawaki Project @tawaki-project.org · Dec 8

Some of the penguin colonies on the Antipodes Islands are pretty inaccessible. This is particularly true for most of the sea cave colonies. To get an idea about the number of penguins we use small #fpvdrones to take a closer look. It becomes a virtual visit without the disturbance of a human.

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The Tawaki Project @tawaki-project.org · Nov 24

Coming home to the Anchorage Bay colonies can be challenging for Erect-crested penguins even on relatively calm days. Slithering through kelp to get to the rocks beyond while the surge is trying to pull you back out is an art form in itself.

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The Tawaki Project @tawaki-project.org · Nov 23

The choir. We're not quite sure what this trumpeting is for - other than perhaps making one's presence known. The urge to trumpet bounces between birds so that it is hardly ever quiet in an Erect-crested penguin colony.

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The Tawaki Project @tawaki-project.org · Nov 22

Antipodean albatross youngster practicing its moves. It's another few months before the first take-off.

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The Tawaki Project @tawaki-project.org · Nov 21

Easterly storm at the Reef Point Erect-crested penguin colony, Antipodes Island.

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The Tawaki Project @tawaki-project.org · Nov 21

Dead straight!

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The Tawaki Project @tawaki-project.org · Nov 18

I guess that's why they call it Stack Bay?

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The Tawaki Project @tawaki-project.org · Sep 19

Mapping new tawaki nests on Many Islands in Dusky Sound. Year after year we find penguins in new spots, often because people spotted a bird scrambling ashore somewhere. Slowly we are filling in the gaps on the map of tawaki breeding sites. At this rate we need several life times to find them all.

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The Tawaki Project @tawaki-project.org · Sep 13

Somewhere along Acheron Passage...

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The Tawaki Project @tawaki-project.org · Sep 11

The film star is back. The male tawaki from nest SE70c is guarding a new chick. He was featured in the tawaki segment of season two of 'Our Planet' on Nerflix.

The Tawaki Project @tawaki-project.org · Sep 10

A rock solid tawaki nest in Thompson Sound, Fiordland