After speaking with one of the most experienced penguin experts in Australia – Ken Simpson; regarding our feathered friend Kym – it is now confirmed that this little bird is in fact a Moseley Rockhopper Penguin – Eudyptes moseleyi.
These amazing birds are from both St. Paul and Amsterdam Islands west of Perth – approximately half way between Perth and South Africa and this little one is the only recorded “juvenile” to have hit South Australian shores since 2000.
These amazing swimmers arrive on Australian shores in late June to early July each year but rarely are they as young as this! The adults that do make it to Australia moult and once finished and water proof once again they take to the oceans and return to their home lands for breading.
Unfortunately, not one juvenile bird as young as this has ever been recorded as successfully saved and returned to the wild. Flippers crossed we can rewrite the record books once again…
