Humboldt Penguin

These are Humboldt penguins, they are more tropical penguins who reside in South America. They are normally found in the Pingüino de Humboldt National Reserve in the northern part of Chili. It is a protected area just for them. They are named after the person who discovered them, Alexander von Humboldt. The ocean in peru where they were found is also named after them.

They are medium sized as far as penguins go, growing to be up to 28 inches tall and weighing in at between 3.6 - 5.9kg. As expected, they are black and white, with white underbellies and a black breast band. When they are young they do not have this band and it fades in with age. The bases of their bills are pink and fleshy. As with all penguins, they have spines on their tongues to hold their prey.

Humboldt penguins nest on the coasts, in burrows and holes in an attempt to make it safe for the chicks. In captivity several accounts of gay penguins raising young has been recorded. The first was in a German zoo in 2009, the males adopted an abandoned egg and raised it as a heterosexual penguin couple would. In 2014, this happened again in the UK where two males who had bonded previously raised a egg abandoned by its mother.

They are listed as vulnerable due to fishing, ocean acidification and climate change. The local governments are doing their best to help raise the species back up again and protect them. In August of 2010, they were protected under the US endangered species act. More recently, in 2017 there was talk of a mining project near a colony of penguins, the government vetoed this due to the impact it might have on the penguin's habitat.

This article was dedicated to my partner because she isn't feeling well right now and she loves penguins. I hope you learned something, see you next time!
-Dari