THE HUMBOLDT PENGUIN SPHENISCUS-HUMBOLDTI - A MIGRATORY BIRD

Until recently, the endangered Humboldt penguin was considered a seden tary bird, which remained near its breeding colonies throughout the ye ar. In this pilot study we used five satellite transmitters on Humbold t penguins during the austral winter and were able to track one bird f rom Pan de Azucar Island (26 degrees 09'S, 70 degrees 40'W), Northern Chile to Iquique (20 degrees 12'S, 70 degrees 07'W), a distance of 640 km, between May 24 and June 26, 1996. While a 35 km protection zone a round breeding islands might be helpful to prevent competition of peng uins with fisheries during the summer months, this might not improve t he survival of migrating birds in the winter. Further studies are requ ired to determine the extent of migration and to confirm the recorded travelling route and landing locations in order to detect possible thr eats to Humboldt penguins from fishing and other industries throughout the year.