Kororā | About little penguins
The Little Penguin is known in Māori as kororā and is a Tāoka (Treasured) Species for Kai Tahu. Little Penguins are sometimes called blue penguins or little blue penguins.
The kororā, (Little Blue Penguin) found here at Takiharuru-Pilots Beach are native to New Zealand and Southern Australia.
Kororā are the world’s smallest penguin, standing at about 30 cm in height. Being small they have adapted their behaviour to return to land from sea only at dusk to avoid some of their natural predators.
These little penguins weigh around one kilo on average.
kororā/little penguins live for an average of around seven years, but the oldest recorded was 25 years.
Breeding for little penguins starts at around 2 years of age.
Nesting underground, both birds share the incubation (usually 2 eggs) and raising of the chicks. At Takiharuru, the Pukekura Trust has installed several hundred nest boxes that the penguins are happy to use for nesting. Penguins are capable of digging their own burrows to nest in also.
The numbers living in New Zealand are in decline except in areas where they have greater protection.
Takiharuru-Pilots Beach is one of the main kororā breeding areas in mainland Otago. Their population has dramatically increased from 20 pairs in the early 1990s to over 250 pairs currently. This increasing population of penguins is largely due to increased protection of the birds by the local whanau (families) and the Pukekura Trust.
