Video: Penguin Family

Gentoo Penguin nesting clip from "There's Something About Penguins", the Intrepid Berkeley Explorer's free video of survival in Antarctica.



Link to video

Penguin Butt

by Steven Schwartz in JPG Magazine

Chester Zoo’s springtime penguin parade

Aero, the Humboldt’s Penguin chick, hatched on Monday after being incubated for 46 days by parents Warty and Hislop.

Chester Zoo’s penguin keepers anticipate that Aero will be joined by up to 20 other chicks between now and the middle of April.

Source: Liverpool Daily Post

Duh

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Photo from Flickr, uploaded by audiobh90, used with permission.

Penguins will keep Liverpool clean

Percy the polite Penguin and his friend Cherie the cheerful chick have become involved in an initiative by Liverpool City Council to address the woeful lack of manners and tidiness of youngsters.

The birds have waddled into the playground of Liverpool Schools to deliver and audible message of: 'Thanks for your rubbish, we like being fed by you.'

Source: Edie

Wooden penguin toys are recalled

Plan Toy of Mountain View, Calif., is recalling 3,000 toy penguin figurines because they pose a potential laceration hazard, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The CPSC says the head of the penguin toy can detach, exposing connectors with sharp points, presenting a laceration hazard to consumers.

The recalled toys were sold at specialty toy stores nationwide and on-line from May 2007 through February 2008 for between $15 and $20. They were made in Thailand.

Plan is asking consumers to return the toys to their place of purchase to receive a refund. For further details, contact Plan Toys (866) 517-7526 or visit its website at www.plantoys.com.

Source: Playthings

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Penguin photo series

A great photo series at Flikr, by JohnBurke

Hey - what's this?!?

I'm getting soaked!

Brrr! I'm going to have a word with him!

Hey! What do you think you're playing at???

Don't you yell at me!!!

Redcar Penguins

"Redcar Penguins 2" uploaded by mercuryvapour

Redcar (wiki) is the principal town of the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, England. The penguin colony was installed by the Great British Bollard Company as part of the Esplanade's public art.

(The penguins were temporarily moved to a hidden location in 2006, when Redcar was turned into Dunkirk to film scenes for the movie Atonement.)

Happy Easter!

Easter Penguin at jgoode penguins

Easter Penguin stamp at Sierra Enterprises

Easter Penguin at Artbrat's Bits and Pieces

Penguin Stainless Steel Travel Mug

Take your coffee on the go in this penguin stainless steel travel mug that has a sip-through lid.

$12.95 at Whales & Friends

Penguins prolific at Pueblo Zoo

The Pueblo Zoo's African penguin population has been steadily growing--five penguin babies were born over the winter. They'll soon be on display.

At birth an baby African penguin is only about the size of a golf ball. Now they weigh close to five pounds.

The Pueblo Zoo is having continued success at raising penguins. Last year six babies were born. They're now considered "teenagers" and will soon be moved to other zoos.

Source: KOAA.com

SF Zoo's male penguin pair returns

Harry and Pepper, the San Francisco Zoo's male penguin pair, are once again at the San Francisco Zoo after a nine-month star turn at the Sacramento Zoo.

The birds were on loan to the Sacramento Zoo since shortly after Valentine's Day last year to help christen a new temporary penguin exhibit at that zoo.

Mating season on SF zoo's penguin island began last month, and the penguins spend a good portion of their day prepping their nests to care for their eggs, which usually are laid around Mother's Day.

The male penguin pair will be given an infertile egg to care for, as has been done in the past, to prevent them from stealing an egg from another couple. With the island at capacity with 53 birds, only two couples will be allowed to care for fertile eggs this year.

Source: Bay Area Reporter

swiming penguin

"swiming penguin #2" uploaded by * Yumi *

Purple Penguin

from: Photoshoped animals into fruits

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Blue penguin facts

* The blue penguin is the world's smallest and the only penguin species that is nocturnal on land.

* Although quite common, its size and unusual habits make it rarely seen.

* The penguins come ashore only in darkness and live in burrows.

* They breed in burrows, under trees and other vegetation, in piles of driftwood, in rock crevices, under buildings and in caves.

* Blue penguins usually breed for the first time at 2-3 years of age.

* Their ability to fledge chicks from more than one clutch during a single breeding season makes them unique among penguin species.

* The core egg-laying period for most of NZ is September to November.

* Eggs are incubated for 36 days.

* Both parents share incubation and feeding duties; at least one adult will stay in the burrow all day throughout incubation and guard periods.

* The chicks are guarded for the first 2-3 weeks, after which both parents must go to sea to keep up the supply of fish.

* Chick growth is rapid, with adult weight (1kg) being achieved in 4-5 weeks.

* Chicks usually fledge at 8 weeks and are independent from then on.

* There is a high rate of juvenile mortality, but individuals can reach up to 25 years of age.

Source: New Zealand Herald

Penguin Love

"Penguin Love" uploaded by jujustars

Bright Guy - Penguin Flashlight

Bright Guy - The Self-Powered LED Penguin Flashlight.

Need a little light and all of your batteries seem to have died??? Then you need this cool self-powered penguin flashlight. When you press the lower button Bright Guy's wing pops out to allow you to charge this penguin up. Crank his penguin wing, and the LED will get you where you want to go.

$12.95 at The Penguin Gift Shop

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Penguin patrol on the job

Dozens of African and macaroni penguins are allowed to roam freely and mingle with visitors at Living Coasts in Torquay. The penguins have no fear and are quite happy to investigate shoe laces, handbags and toggles on coats.

To make sure people don't get over-excited and try to chase or pet the birds the zoo hires penguin patrollers. Patrollers have to be friendly, confident, outgoing but sensible.

Need a job?

Source: BBC

All dressed up

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Penguin radio

AM / FM Penguin Radio will look and sound great in any room of the house, dorm, cabin, shack, tent or on the road.

Constructed of sturdy molded plastic, the four inch tall AM/FM penguin radio features recessed volume and tuning controls, self-storing telescoping antenna for strong reception, and a large speaker for crisp clear sound, and it looks great. Operates on 3 AA batteries (not included).

$13.95 at Penguin Place

Penguin guano is scientific tool

Australian scientists are uncovering a clearer map of where pesticides are ending up in the environment - and it is penguin guano that is leading them there.

Many of the Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) that have been found in the penguin guano were banned under the UN's Stockholm convention in 2001.

The pesticides are still concentrating in the penguins because it takes so long for them to break down.

Source: ABC News

Penguin feet

Penguins Toothbrush Holder

Way, way, too cute!

$9.99 at Target

Ends of the Earth: From Polar Bears to Penguins

Ends of the Earth: From Polar Bears to Penguins at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia takes visitors from one end of our globe to the other to explore the fascinating—and frigid—worlds of the Arctic and Antarctic through interactive exhibits and multimedia experiences.

Slide like a penguin. Study their feathers under a microscope in the Penguin Lab. Check out a real penguin skeleton and find out why penguins are black and white. Learn what researchers are discovering about penguins, including their feeding, family life, and unique locomotion. Then, match your skills against those of penguin parents in the "Feed the Chick Game”. Fish for krill and race your opponent back to the nest!

Video: Orphaned Penguins Hand Fed

The latest threat to African penguins may be a food shortage. That's probably why many chicks are abandoned, says a group that's rearing 400 orphans.

Watch video

Source: National Geographic

Playing in the snow

These penguins had never known snow. Never seen it, certainly never slid their fat bowling-pin bodies down a bank of cool white. These were zoo penguins, born and bred. Their world was perpetually cool, but always indoors.


Keepers at the St. Louis Zoo were a little unsure how their penguins would react to seeing snow for the first time.

As more than 10 inches fell on the area, they selected which of the zoo's 58 indoor penguins would go outside. They did not include the older birds, those with injuries or arthritis. They did not include the nesting or molting birds; it would be too stressful. They whittled the group to seven — six Kings and one Gentoo — and led them into the snow. They dove right in.

One of the King penguins raised its beak and bellowed a sound like a kazoo. The one Gentoo penguin, a smaller bird bearing a white stripe on her head, flopped onto her belly in the snow. A King penguin named Barry bellowed. Then a King named Tut slid on his stomach on a small snow bank, his wings out at his side and his webbed feet pushing him forward.

"That was unbelievable," keeper Rick Smith said. "The reaction of the birds makes it worthwhile."

Watch video on KSDK Newschannel 5.

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Photo: St Louis Zoo

Lunch with a penguin

"This man was so happily talking to his penguin over there I thought it was real." uploaded by Malingering

Ice Penguins

These frozen penguin sculptures were placed in a public square in Sao Paulo, Brazil, to alert people to global warming. The Ice Penguins make the plight of the Antarctic emperor penguin clear - as their habitat warms they will disappear.

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Penguins facing a rocky road to survive in NZ

Roadkill has been identified as a contributor to the declining populations of blue penguins in some parts of New Zealand.

A study recently published in the New Zealand Journal of Zoology on the breeding success of the blue penguins on the west coast of the South Island identified roadkill as a significant threat to the population.

The study said the total population of blue penguins on the West Coast was thought to be in the hundreds rather than the thousands, and many residents believed the decline began a decade ago or longer.

"Each road-killed penguin might be incubating up to two eggs or rearing up to two chicks at the time of death."

Since both parents were required to rear the chicks, the death of one penguin on the road could remove up to three more individuals from the population.

The study said steps should be taken to identify the most hazardous road crossing points and to raise public awareness.

Source: New Zealand Herald

The biggest creche on earth

From the sky, it looks like a giant swirling frothy coffee.

Yet this scene shows an extraordinary community at work - thousands of king penguins instinctively herding their recently born young into giant huddles to stop them freezing to death.


Parental instinct takes over in the inhospitable climate of the South Atlantic and the furry brown chicks are made to crowd together to retain their body warmth in the equivalent of bird creches.

The picture was taken 2,000ft above the shoreline of South Georgia, a British territory close to the Falklands, by a helicopter crew from the Royal Navy's ice patrol ship HMS Endurance.

Source: Daily Mail

Have you seen this penguin?

Penguin abducted from German zoo

Officials at a zoo in Stuttgart, Germany, believe a penguin that has gone missing from her enclosure was abducted. Officials said the penguin, a female named Babe, was taken from the enclosure she shares with 54 other African penguins.

"She was there when zookeepers visited in the morning, and by early afternoon she was gone," said staff zoologist Isabel Koch.

"She couldn't have walked out with so many people around, but it wouldn't be so difficult to carry her away," Koch said. "She's just the size of a sack of flour."

Source: The Money Times