9/4/2023 0 Comments Penguin natural predatorsLittle Penguins Are The Only Penguin Species Capable Of Having More Than One Egg Cluth Per Season This of course means that diving for food is not possible and they must therefore fast during their 2-week molt. While going through their annual molt, where penguins replace all their feathers at once, little penguins need to stay completely dry as they don’t have their special waterproof feathers. Little Penguins Fast For 2 Weeks Every Year While predation reduces the average lifespan of little penguins to about 6 – 7 years in the wild, captive individuals can live to be over 20 years old. Little Penguins Can Live For A Surprisingly Long Time Nevertheless, some scientists have records of exceptional individuals reaching speeds of 6.4 km / 4 miles per hour. While small these penguins are really good at chasing small fish in shallow water reaching an average speed of 2.5 km / 1.6 miles per hour. Little Penguins Can Reach A Speed of 2.5 KM Per Hour Whether they’re laying down or standing up, night or day, little penguins sleep for only 4 minutes at a time and these periods occur throughout the day and night.ĭuring the nighttime, however, they will have more frequent “sleep periods” than they normally do during the day.Įven while making their way from the shore to their nesting sites it’s not uncommon to see some individuals stopping every 20 – 50 m / 66 – 164 feet to take a short nap before continuing the trek home. Little Penguins Only Sleep 4 Minutes At A Time Eudyptula is greek for “good little diver” which is quite suiting for the little penguin as it carries out underwater pursuits during its dives that would put the fast and furious franchise to shame. The little blue penguin is the sole member of the genus Eudyptula. The Little Penguin Is The Only Member Of Its Genus While most penguin species’ eyes are red, brown, or something in between the little penguin has blue-grayish eyes. The chicks fledge once they are between 50 – 65 days old. Little penguins have a breeding cycle that lasts for around 50 days from courtship to egg hatching making it the shortest breeding cycle in any penguin species. Little Penguins Have The Shortest Breeding Cycle While most older penguin chicks associate in groups called “creches” to get enough warmth and protection while their parents are on dives, little penguin chicks prefer to remain on their nest sites.Ĭreches are sometimes observed among chicks that live in large caves with several nests. Little Penguin Chicks Aren’t As Social As Other Species Little penguins carry out a diet comprising mostly small fish but will gladly eat squid, octopus, and crustaceans when available.Įach population may have slightly different diets depending on what’s most available in the area but some of the common prey items are:Ħ. Their introduced predators are weasels, rats, and domestic cats and dogs. The only natural land predators of the little penguin are pacific gulls and king’s skinks and they only go after eggs and hatchlings.Įvery other land-based predator has been introduced by humans and they are significantly detrimental to little penguin populations. Little Penguins Have Humans To Blame For Most Land Predators This is thought to be an adaptation to avoid land predators while moving to and from the water in the dark. Once ashore they will be very loud as they make their way to their particular resting sites giving people the wrong impression that they’re nocturnal. Little penguins will leave for foraging dives before dawn and return to land on “rafts”, made up of around 6 individuals, after dark. However, while this bird is the “most nocturnal” penguin species out there it isn’t REALLY nocturnal. Little Penguins Have Nocturnal WaysĪ lot of people believe that little penguins are nocturnal due to their habit of coming ashore from their feeding dives after dusk and going into the water before dawn. There is an extremely low “divorce” rate among little penguins and mated pairs will breed together year after year, but if a bonded pair has an unsuccessful nesting attempt during a breeding season chances are these penguins will call it quits and search for a more productive alliance. Little penguins are some of the most loyal penguin species! These small sea birds form monogamous pairs that will only dissolve for 2 reasons: Little Penguins Are Faithful Partners Who Put Childrearing First In fact, this species has over a dozen different aggressive displays that have been carefully studied by scientists, so they may be small but they will definitely stand their ground. Nonetheless, you shouldn’t let their tiny size fool you as even though these are highly sociable animals they are also very aggressive. the little penguin is the smallest out of the 18 penguin species. Reaching a maximum height of 41 cm / 16 in. Little Penguins Are The Smallest Penguin Species Little Penguins Are The Most Common Penguins In New Zealand 1.
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