• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2022	Least Concern
2018	Near Threatened	D2
2016	Near Threatened	D2
2015	Near Threatened	D2
2012	Vulnerable	D2
2010	Vulnerable	D2
2008	Vulnerable	D2
2007	Vulnerable
2005	Vulnerable
2004	Vulnerable
2000	Vulnerable
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	160 km2	medium
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	219,000 km2	medium
Area of Occupancy (breeding/resident)	130 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	1340000-1660000, 1500000 mature individuals	medium	estimated	2016
Population trend	unknown	poor	-	-
Generation length	14 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	1	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	100%	-	-	-

Population justification: In 2016, a survey mapping the perimeters of all 54 colonies and applying a nest density estimate was undertaken and estimated 750,037 breeding pairs (669,538–830,154) of E. schlegeli (Salton et al. 2019), converted and rounded here to a best estimate of 1,500,000 (1,340,000-1,660,000) mature individuals.

Trend justification: The population trend is unknown, but thought probably to be stable. There is no evidence of a population decrease, due at least partly to low-resolution historical population estimates. Surveys in the 1980s found 57 breeding colonies varying in size from 75,000 to 160,000 pairs each (Rounsevell & Brothers 1984, Hindell et al. 1995) and with 457 noted on Bishop and Clerk Islands in 1993 (Brothers & Ledingham 2008), totalling c.850,000 pairs or 1.7 million mature individuals (Hindell et al. 1995). These estimates are similar to, but slightly higher than, the numbers counted in 2019 (750,000 breeding pairs). However, a significant difference was not found and these differences are thought to be accounted for by the refined methodology used in 2016 (Salton et al. 2019). Because of the incomparability of censuses, the population trend is precautionarily considered unknown (Salton et al. 2019), although it is probably stable (Woehler et al. 2021).

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Argentina	extant	vagrant			yes
Australia	extant	native		yes
Falkland Islands (Malvinas)	extant	vagrant			yes
South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands	extant	vagrant			yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Australia	Macquarie Island

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Grassland	Subantarctic	major	breeding
Marine Neritic	Macroalgal/Kelp	major	resident
Marine Neritic	Pelagic	major	resident
Marine Neritic	Seagrass (Submerged)	major	resident
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Loose Rock/pebble/gravel	major	resident
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Rock and Rocky Reefs	major	resident
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Sandy	major	resident
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Sandy-Mud	major	resident
Marine Oceanic	Epipelagic (0-200m)	major	resident
Marine Oceanic	Mesopelagic (200-1000m)	major	resident
Altitude	0 - 150 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Past, Unlikely to Return		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Past Impact
		Stresses Species mortality
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Unintentional effects (species is not the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Unknown		Minority (<50%)		No decline		Unknown
		Stresses Species mortality
Climate change & severe weather	Habitat shifting & alteration	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Whole (>90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Indirect ecosystem effects, Ecosystem degradation, Reduced reproductive success
Climate change & severe weather	Storms & flooding	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future				Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Species disturbance, Species mortality
Geological events	Avalanches/landslides	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Unknown		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Species disturbance, Ecosystem conversion, Species mortality
Human intrusions & disturbance	Recreational activities	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species disturbance
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Felis catus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Past, Unlikely to Return		Minority (<50%)		No decline		Past Impact
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Gallirallus australis	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Past, Unlikely to Return		Minority (<50%)		No decline		Past Impact
		Stresses Competition
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Rattus rattus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Past, Unlikely to Return		Minority (<50%)		No decline		Past Impact
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality

Purpose	Scale
Fuels	subsistence, national
Fuels	subsistence, national

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Royal Penguin Eudyptes schlegeli. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/royal-penguin-eudyptes-schlegeli on 25/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 25/11/2024.