Rare Specimen

A penguin of a species rarely seen on the East Coast came ashore at Wainui Beach last month and made itself at home with Mrs Whiteman and her family in Wairere Road. It was a Big Crested Penguin, or Tawaki. In no time it was one of the family pets, and up to the time these pictures were taken, it had shown no inclination to return to its natural haunts.

The Big Crested Penguin is one of New Zealand's several specimens of Sub-Antarctic penguins which have rookeries in the Antipodes and Bounty Islands. They usually moult in the autumn, then swim up to New Zealand to winter in warmer waters, and are common about Cook Strait.

How this particular bird comes to be on the East Coast in summer weather is a mystery.

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Pictures show the bird enjoying a shower from Janice Whiteman. After the shower, bird resumes somnolent attitude which suggests he is in moulting stage.

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