Rockhopper penguin positions and islands became surrounded by subtropical water masses, resulting in a split between Northern and Southern rockhopper penguins. Many advance and retreat cycles of Patagonian icecaps during the late Pleistocene may have created a barrier to gene flow between Southern Pacific and Southern Atlantic populations, causing a split between Southern and Eastern rockhopper populations. Adult Rockhopper penguins have no land-based predators. They are eaten when at sea by leopard seals, fur seals, killer whales and blue sharks. Chicks and eggs are eaten by many birds including giant petrels, skuas, sheathbills and various types of gulls. Although the rockhopper penguin
Bird-of-paradise lek-type mating system. Others, such as the "Cicinnurus" and "Parotia" species, have highly ritualised mating dances. Males are polygamous in the sexually dimorphic species, but monogamous in at least some of the monomorphic species. Hybridisation is frequent in these birds, suggesting the polygamous species of bird of paradise are very closely related despite being in different genera. Many hybrids have been described as new species, and doubt remains regarding whether some forms, such as Rothschild's lobe-billed bird of paradise, are valid. Birds-of-paradise build their nests from soft materials, such as leaves, ferns, and vine tendrils, typically placed in a tree