Line-up of white-flippered and little blue penguins: white-flippered on the left, then three little blues, then three white-flippered, then a little blue.
The white-flippered penguin is found only in Canterbury (in NZ) and has variously been treated as just a colour morph of the little blue penguin (Eudyptula minor), as a subspecies (Eudyptula minor albosignata), and as a full species (Eudyptula albosignata). They are actually very distinctive, being larger and paler with whiter faces and of course having the broad white edge to the flippers, but DNA studies have had differing results (depending on the leanings of the researcher one suspects) - either results show they are totally distinct from little blues, or conversely indistinguishable genetically. The whole taxonomy is way up in the air.
There are seven white-flippered penguins at the International Antarctic Centre (all rehab birds) and seventeen little blue penguins (also all rehab birds, from the Napier Marineland), so its a very convenient place to see both forms in one spot and compare :)
March 2011
