Little penguins are truly amazing birds as the recent recovery of a band from a dead bird on Gabo Island reveals.
I banded the bird as a fledgling on Bowen Island in Jervis Bay in July 1989, almost 22 years ago. It is the longest period from banding to recovery I know, they generally live around 8 years!
This little penguin’s marathon effort was no means the longest distance from Bowen that a banded penguin had been recovered. This feat goes to a bird recovered in the Coorong, South Australia, some 1,175 kilometres from the island — unlike the wandering albatross renowned for foraging over mind boggling distances, the little penguin is such a small bird, and it can’t fly!
Most banding of little penguins stopped in 1997 in favour of implanted microchips.
Martin, Booderee National Park