Southern rockhopper penguin eye. The rockhopper penguin complex is confusing. Many taxonomists consider all three rockhopper penguin forms subspecies. Some split the northern subspecies ("moseleyi") from the southern forms ("chrysocome" and "filholi"). Still others consider all three distinct. The subspecies recognized for the southern rockhopper penguin complex are: The northern rockhopper penguin lives in a different water mass than the western and eastern rockhopper penguin, separated by the Subtropical Front, and they are genetically different. Therefore, northern birds are sometimes separated as "E. moseleyi". The rockhopper penguins are closely related to the macaroni penguin ("E. chrysolophus") and the royal penguin ("E. schlegeli"), which
Bird flight Bird flight Bird flight is the primary mode of locomotion used by most bird species in which birds take off and fly. Flight assists birds while feeding, breeding, avoiding predators, and migrating. Bird flight is one of the most complex forms of locomotion in the animal kingdom. Each facet of this type of motion, including hovering, taking off, and landing, involves many complex movements. As different bird species have adapted to specific environments, prey, predators, and other needs, they have developed varied forms of wings and varied forms of flight. Research into how birds fly has yielded various theories as