Little Penguin

The Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor) is the smallest species of penguin being about 43 cm (16 in) tall. It is found on the coastlines of southern Australia and New Zealand, with possible records from Chile.

They have several common names. In Australia, they are referred to as Fairy Penguins because of their tiny size. In New Zealand, they are called Little Blue Penguins, or just Blue Penguins, owing to their indigo-blue plumage, and they are called Kororā in Māori.

Taxonomy

The Little Penguin was first described by German naturalist Johann Reinhold Forster in 1781. There are several subspecies but a precise classification of these is still a matter of dispute. The White-flippered Penguin, is sometimes considered a subspecies, sometimes a distinct species, and sometimes a morph. As the Australian and western South Island Little Penguins seem to be a distinct species^[1] to which the specific name minor would apply, the White-flippered birds indeed belong to a distinct species, although not exactly as originally assumed.

Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA evidence suggests the split between Eudyptula and Spheniscus occurred around 25 million years ago, with the ancestors of the White-flippered and Little Penguins diverging about 2.7 million years ago.^[2]

Description

The Little Penguin typically grows to 43 cm (16 in) tall and weighs about one kilogram (2.2 pounds). The male is a little larger than the female, although their plumage is similar. The head and upperparts are indigo in colour, with slate-grey ear coverts fading to white underneath, from the chin to the belly. The flippers are indigo above and white underneath. The dark grey-black bill is 3-4 cm long, the irises pale silvery- or bluish-grey or hazel, and the feet whitish above with black soles and webbing. An immature individual will have a shorter bill and paler upperparts.^[3]

Like most seabirds, they have a long lifespan. The average for the species is 6.5 years, but flipper ringing experiments have recorded individuals that have lived for over 20 years.^[4]

Distribution and habitat

Little penguins have also been reported from Chile (where they are known as Pingüino pequeño or Pingüino azul) (Isla Chañaral 1996, Playa de Santo Domingo, San Antonio, 16 March 1997) but it is unclear whether these birds were vagrants. Nevertheless it has been suggested that there might be a yet undiscovered breeding population in the Chilean portion of Patagonia. Recently, the first record of a living Little Penguin has been reported from Namibia (Ichaboe Island, April 2005).

Behaviour

Diet

These birds feed by hunting fish, squid, and other small sea animals, for which they travel and dive quite extensively.

Reproduction

Little Penguins live year-round in large colonies, with each individual breeding pair forming a burrow in which to raise their chicks (of which two are born at a time). Little Penguins typically return to their colonies to feed their chicks at dusk; the birds will tend to come ashore in small groups to provide some defense against predators which might pick off individuals one by one. In Australia, the strongest colonies are on cat-free and fox-free islands.

Relationship with humans

At Phillip Island, south-east of Melbourne, a viewing area has been set up to allow tourists to view the nightly "penguin parade". Lights and concrete stands have been erected to allow visitors to see but not photograph the birds interacting in their colony, who are not bothered by their spectators. The "parade",which stands as a very popular attraction, brings half a million visitors a year.^[5] Visitors to Kangaroo Island, South Australia, have the nightly opportunity to commune with penguins at the Kangaroo Island Marine Centre in Kingscote and at the Penneshaw Penguin Centre.^[6]

The Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony^[7] is the New Zealand equivalent to Phillip Island's penguin parade.

Linus Torvalds, the original creator of Linux (a popular operating system kernel), was once bitten by a Little Penguin while on holiday in Australia. Reportedly, this encounter encouraged Torvalds to select Tux as the official Linux mascot/logo.^[8]

Penny the Little Penguin was the mascot for the 2007 FINA World Swimming Championships held in Melbourne, Victoria.^[9]^[10]

Sea World

There is a colony of Little Penguins at Sea World, on the Gold Coast, in Queensland, Australia. In early March, 2007, 25 of the 37 penguins died from an unknown toxin following a change of gravel in their enclosure.^[11]^[12]^[13] It is still not known what caused the deaths of the Little Penguins, and it was decided not to return the 12 surviving penguins to the same enclosure in which the penguins became ill.^[14]

Predators

Little Penguins in the wild are sometimes preyed upon by New Zealand fur seals. A study done by researchers from the South Australian Research and Development Institute found that roughly 40 percent of seal droppings in South Australia's Granite Island area contained Little Penguin remains.^[15]

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