While a few pairs occasionally raise both chicks successfully, many pairs lose an egg during incubation and should two eggs hatch, one chick usually dies before the end of the guard stage. For the first few weeks of life, the chick is guarded by the male and fed by the female. After this both parents feed the chick and the chick wanders, creching with other chicks if they are nearby, but returning to the nest to be fed. Chicks fledge at 11 weeks. Age at first breeding is thought to be about 6 years of age.
Juveniles often straggle to the east coast of the South Island, usually to moult.
Diet and feeding Little information is available on where Snares crested penguins feed, but crustaceans, cephalapods and fish are included in their diet. The Snares islands are the only NZ subantarctic islands completely free of introduced land mammals and their accidental introduction would be disastrous. For this reason, the Snares islands are closed to the public. Sea lions and leopard seals are predators of adults and juveniles, while skuas take eggs and chicks. Giant petrels sometimes take fledglings.