What Is the Smallest Species of Penguin?

Habitat &Range

• Fairy penguins are residents of the Southern Hemisphere, and thrive in warmer waters than some species of penguin. These small animals are sometimes spotted on the shores of countries such as New Zealand, Tasmania and the Chatman Islands. They live off Australia too, but generally only the southern coast of the country. According to the SeaPics website, some fairy penguins have been seen in Namibia and Chile.

Characteristics

• These small penguins typically weigh only around 2 lbs. when fully grown. Their physical appearance has given rise to a few of their nicknames, with their feathers being either slate-gray or indigo-blue in color, while their bellies and the bottom of their flippers are colored white, and their beaks are black. Fairy penguins tend to live for roughly seven years, but some have lived for up to 20.

Feeding

• Fairy penguins feast on small fish, as well as other denizens of the ocean such as krill, squid and small octopi. They mainly hunt for food in the shallows, diving down no more than 30 feet in search of prey. Sometimes, however, fairy penguins will head down further, reaching the seabed and there catching meals such as crabs and seahorses, all of which they swallow whole.

Reproduction

• In the summer months, female fairy penguins head to breeding colonies to be courted by males. This is done via complex courting rituals, but once a male has a mate, it tends to be for life. Once mated, a female nests in locations such as sheltered crevices on offshore islands, away from many predators, and lays two eggs. Over the course of the season, which lasts until December, these females can have to up to three broods. Eggs take up to five weeks to hatch, and newborn fairy penguins are only given about five weeks of attention from their parents, after which they head into the world themselves.

Threats

• As well as predators, fairy penguins are occasionally threatened by hazardous water pollution in the form of nets or plastic products, as well as by oil spills; the latter can harm many penguins at once. Despite these threats, fairy penguins are ranked as being of Least Concern on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species. According to the SeaPics website, around 500,000 fairy penguins can be found worldwide.