| Life History |
| A single penguin starts as one of two eggs. Most likely, if the penguin survives it will have been the first one to be born. Because the eggs usually do not hatch at anywhere near the same time, the first born is favored and can be fed "8-10 times as much as their sibling" (Muller-Schwarze 165). The younger may or may not die depending on food availability. Penguins rarely abandon their clutches so chicks are unlikely to die from being on their own. When the are born, they weigh roughly 40grams (Williams 237). By the fourth week they've reached almost 24 times their birth weight their size, weighing a healthy 960 grams. At first the parents take turns tending to the young; "they are guarded day and night (Muller-Schwartz 165). One parent is always at the nest for the first 10-22 days. Afterwards the chick will be left on its own when the parent are out "fishing." During the final period, around four weeks, the chick is left to itself. The chick is fed through regurgitation. They head out at 50-60 days (Muller Schwartz 165). When the chick is born it is covered in a fluffy down. After 28 days they have molted into their final "plumage" and look like little adults (Muller-Schwartz 167). A penguin never strays far from its birth colony. If it survives the seals, gulls, snakes, lizards, dogs, and cars ("the little blue penguin is the only penguin that counts the automobile among its predators, [and] road kills are frequent in Australia" (Muller-Schwartz 167)), it returns to the colony and begins to gain excessive weight around December in preparation of the molting season. A penguin usually returns after a year, and most penguins have returned by two years. They can gain as much as 600 grams in preparation for molting. The molting season is December through March depending on location. During this time, the excessive amounts of parasites can be seen living of the bare penguins (Richdale 192). Afterwards, they return to the sea to return in late March for breeding. Most penguins begin breeding at two years (Williams 238). After choosing a mate, they will continue with that partner for life. Fidelity in the Little Blue Penguin is high with one pair being recorded as mating together for "11 successive years" (Williams 238). The males attract their mates by point their beaks straight up with their wings held back. They then let out a loud bray. Usually the male and female will dig a nesting burrow together (Williams 234). After two years the penguin that was a hatchling now has chicks of its own. |
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| A penguin will scurry on his stomach when stressed. |