Endangered yellow-eyed penguins (Megadyptes antipodes) are central-place, benthic-diving foragers that search for prey in the productive marine areas off the coast of the South Island, New Zealand. Like other seabirds, they target specific, reliable areas of high prey abundance, which are often associated with oceanographic characteristics such as bathymetry, seafloor sediment type, and sea surface temperature. Employing GPS tracking data collected between 2003 and 2021, we created species distribution models using maximum entropy modelling (Maxent) to determine foraging space use and habitat suitability for yellow-eyed penguins across their entire South Island range and within five distinct subpopulations: Banks Peninsula, North Otago, Otago Peninsula, the Catlins, and Stewart Island. We quantified the importance of environmental variables for predicting foraging site selection during and outside the breeding season. Significant regional variation existed in predicted probability of penguin presence, and proximity to the nearest breeding area was a key predictor of suitable foraging habitat. When distance was not included in the models, dissolved oxygen concentration was the most important predictor in the overall South Island model and the North Otago, Otago Peninsula, and the Catlins subpopulation models, whereas water current speed and mean monthly turbidity were most important in Banks Peninsula and Stewart Island subpopulation models, respectively. Dynamic variables related to prey availability were often the most important variables in model predictions of the habitat selection of yellow-eyed penguins. Visualisations and findings from this study, particularly of the observed interactions between penguins and their marine habitat, can be used to direct conservation and resources during marine spatial planning and species management.

濒临灭绝的黄眼企鹅（对跖巨蜥) 是位于新西兰南岛海岸附近的多产海域寻找猎物的中心地底潜水觅食者。像其他海鸟一样，它们瞄准特定的、可靠的猎物丰度高的区域，这些区域通常与海洋学特征有关，例如测深、海底沉积物类型和海面温度。利用 2003 年至 2021 年间收集的 GPS 跟踪数据，我们使用最大熵模型 (Maxent) 创建了物种分布模型，以确定黄眼企鹅在整个南岛范围内和五个不同亚群内的觅食空间利用和栖息地适宜性：班克斯半岛、北奥塔哥、奥塔哥半岛、卡特林斯和斯图尔特岛。我们量化了环境变量在繁殖季节内外预测觅食地点选择的重要性。企鹅存在的预测概率存在显着的区域差异，靠近最近的繁殖区是合适觅食栖息地的关键预测因素。当模型中不包括距离时，溶解氧浓度是整个南岛模型和北奥塔哥、奥塔哥半岛和卡特林斯亚群模型中最重要的预测因子，而水流速度和月平均浊度在 Banks 中最重要半岛和斯图尔特岛亚群模型，分别。与猎物可用性相关的动态变量通常是模型预测黄眼企鹅栖息地选择的最重要变量。