Southern rockhopper penguins on the Falkland Islands
© Heike Odermatt/Minden Picture
Rockin' with the rockhoppers
For World Penguin Day, we're featuring a jaunty group of southern rockhopper penguins on a Falkland Islands beach. Most penguins slide over the ice on their bellies, but these small penguins opt for more aerobic locomotion—they hop. Of all penguin species, rockhoppers are among the most numerous. But pollution, overfishing, and climate change have taken a toll: Their population has declined by about 30 percent over the last 30 years. Today, there's an estimated 1.5 million breeding pairs of rockhoppers. About 1 million of those are southern rockhopper couples, like these, with the northern and eastern subspecies filling out the rest of numbers.
Related Images
Northern gannets on Great Saltee Island, Ireland
Trumpeter swans at Kelly Warm Springs, near Kelly, Wyoming
Male king eider ducks swimming in Troms og Finnmark, Norway
Greater flamingos migrate to fresh water in India
Mute swan in Valkenhorst Nature Reserve, near Valkenswaard, the Netherlands
Wandering albatross pair, South Georgia island
Sandhill cranes and mallard ducks, Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico
Male Atlantic puffin gives his mate nesting material, Skomer Island, Wales
Bing Today Images
Adélie penguins on an iceberg, Antarctica
Apr 25, 2024
Adélie penguins in Antarctica
Apr 25, 2023
Adélie penguins diving off an iceberg in Antarctica
Apr 25, 2021
Ice cave at sunset in Vatnajokull, Iceland
Apr 25, 2019
