New Zealand mountain penguin

The **New Zealand mountain penguin** (*Montiflumenorinis zealandia*) is a species of penguin that originally did not exist, but has since been created by SciiFii and introduced throughout the mountains, forests, lakes, and rivers across New Zealand to help boost biodiversity. The New Zealand mountain penguin has kept in fresh waters of New Zealand, isolated from typical oceanic fauna of most other penguins. It is adapted to life in cool lakes and rapid rivers of islands, eating the various animals living in them. The New Zealand mountain penguin has a small size compared with many penguins, reaching the height of about 20 cm tall. Instead of the strict black-and-white coloration, this bird has a spotty gray-brown coloring of back – it is easier to the mountain penguin to mask among a non-uniform landscape of the native land. Stomach is white with black cross strip on throat. Strong and muscled fin-like wings now help not only at swimming, but also at movement on land. On the edge of wing feathers had turned to flat corneous spikes similar to nails. They help mobile and dexterous bird to climb on stones and to rake pebble in searches of invertebrates. Sometimes New Zealand mountain penguin even escapes from predators, climbing on trees with inclined enough trunk. Thus it clings against bark by paws and wings. Shining red beak arrests attention like bright spot on dim background of this penguin feathering. Besides for it the bird has narrow rings of naked skin around of eyes. In their colouring the sexual dimorphism is shown: at males “glasses” are pink, at females – grey. Beak of the mountain penguin is short and thick. In maxilla two short sharp tooth-like outgrowths jut out. They are used for killing of small vertebrates containing the food of this bird. New Zealand mountain penguin catch fish in lakes and rivers of islands, and it also eats water invertebrates such as crayfishes and snails. As a defense against invasive species, this bird has an expanded diet, and it also feeds on ground animals; on land, New Zealand mountain penguin pecks insects, snails and small vertebrates (lizards, rodents). Similarly to the majority of the representatives of its family, New Zealand mountain penguin nests in colonies. The size of colony depends on efficiency of habitats: near big lakes number of colony can reach hundreds of individuals, near big rivers up to several tens, and near small wood streams this bird nests in settlements numbering only few breeding pairs. If fodder resources of habitats are exhausted, birds having no nests can abandon the colony and search for new places for life. They are able to survive in wood or to overcome watersheds in searches of new place for life. This penguin arranges nests in holes which it digs independently in river coast, under protection of large stones and roots of trees. In each hole with long common “corridor” some pairs of adult birds occupying separate nesting chambers nest. Pairs at this species keep till all life. Nesting partners pay attention to each other, in common equip the nesting hole and protect it from competitors. New Zealand mountain penguins nest once a year, in summer. In clutch there are 2 – 3 large white eggs, both parents hatch them alternately within 18 days. Eggs are laid in small hole serving as the nest, without any litter. Nestlings hatch rather advanced, with opened eyes, covered with rich black down. Beak at them is also black: it will gradually change color when the bird becomes adult. Till first weeks of life nestlings sit in the nesting chamber; growing up, they leave it and wait for parents on ground surface. At danger nestlings and adult birds hide in hole and actively protect themselves from enemies, biting. Young birds become able to breeding at four-year-old age, and general life expectancy makes till 25 years. The conservation status of the New Zealand mountain penguin is **Least Concern** due to successful conservation efforts, the New Zealand mountain penguin's wide range and its tolerance to many of the human activities.