Penguins are flightless, aquatic birds that spend half their lives in water, and on land. Australia's Little Penguin is the world's smallest penguin. Introduction to Little Penguin.
Many colonies are in decline due to predation by introduced predators including cats, dogs and ferrets.
The light coloured stomach blends in with the sky to camouflage the penguin from the predators underneath in the water, such as seals. It is found on the coastlines of southern Australian and New Zealand with possible records from Chile. Snipers were once deployed to protect little penguins in Sydney from foxes. Little penguins at sea are at risk of entanglement in set nets.
The Little Penguin's Latin name Eudyptula minor means 'good little diver', an accurate description of this species. Weight Up to 1 kg (2 lbs.) Legal harvesting of penguin guano (a component of certain fertilizers) in Peru and Chile also endangers Humboldt penguins. As little penguins are at risk of being predated on by higher order predators, group foraging may also serve as a strategy in response to predation fear. It is no surprise that the Little Penguin is the smallest of all species. Little Penguins are the only penguin in the world with blue and white feathers. They have slate-blue to black feathers and a white chin and chest. Overview- The little penguin (Eudyptula minor) is the smallest species of penguin It grows to an average of 33 cm in height and 43 cm in length, though specific measurements vary by subspecies.
The Little Penguin’s Camouflage. A lightweight of just about 1kg, it is also called the Fairy Penguin. They are sometime referred to as Fairy Penguins too due to their small size. Size Up to 41 cm (16 in.) In Australia, they are often called fairy penguins. Penguin Profile. They are members of the order Sphenisciformes and family Spheniscidae, and the number of extant penguin species is debated, somewhere between 17 – 20 current living species in total.
Little Penguin Eudyptula minor . They definitely get plenty of attention though due to the fact that they are so small. The little penguin is the smallest of the world’s 18 penguin species. The little penguin is the smallest of the 17 penguin species. The blue colour on the back of the penguin camouflage the penguin from flying predators such as eagles. The accumulation of guano is essential for nesting burrows but when it is harvested, the nests are destroyed, and very little other suitable habitat is available for the breeding birds. The largest colonies are on Motunau Island (1650 nests) and at the Oamaru Blue Penguin colony (>1,000 individuals). Threats and conservation. Many places in Australia have created a tourist attraction by allowing visitors to watch the penguins as they emerge from the water. By comparison, the Emperor Penguin, the largest of the world's 18 penguin species, weighs up to 38 kg. They mainly habitat the Southern Hemisphere, with only the Galapagos penguin, north of the equator. Whether such behaviour is opportunistic in nature or represents complex strategies with individuals preferentially choosing who to associate with, when and for how long remains to be determined.
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