This year's breeding season at the Oamaru blue penguin colony began later than average, as the first eggs were laid in mid-September.
Colony manager Jason Gaskill said the birds were a highly adaptable species and could begin breeding from as early as May to as late as September.
The variation was most likely related to how much food was available at sea.
The colony is home to 125 breeding pairs with 204 eggs and 34 chicks, and the Oamaru Creek penguin refuge, a control colony for research and monitoring purposes, has 108 pairs, 180 eggs and 27 chicks.
Although severe erosion had affected the Oamaru Creek colony this year, the birds had coped well with the change in their habitat.
"We have found the penguins that once bred in the worst-affected area have continued breeding further northwards within the colony. If encouraged away from unsafe . . . areas, the penguins will continue to breed successfully," Mr Gaskill said.
