Follow us on:
  • About
    • History
    • Collections
    • Uses
    • Meet the staff
    • Curator
  • On Display
    • Floor plan
    • Animal finder >
      • By Location
      • By Animal group >
        • Vertebrates
        • Invertebrates
    • Keys and information sheets >
      • Evolution and adaptation
      • Taxonomy
      • Diet
      • Social organisation and mating system
      • Ecosystems and habitats
  • Activities
  • Visit us
    • Tours
    • School visits
    • Find us
    • Get involved
  • Get in touch
    • Visitor feedback

Little Penguin

Eudyptula minor


Where is it found?

Picture
Coastline

Diet and foraging method

Eats meat.
Hunts for fish and can dive up to 20m deep in search of food, but mainly hunts close to the surface
Eats fish.
Eats animals with an exoskeleton, specifically crustaceans.
Eats squid.

Key adaptations

Streamline (fusiform) body shape and modified wings - flippers - allows for superb speed and agility in the water, but they can't fly.

Social organisation and mating system

Picture
Live in colonies
Picture
Picture
Socially monogamous breeding pairs
Penguins come ashore in groups to feed their chicks for defence against predators.

Did you know that...?

Little Penguins are the smallest species of penguins in the world and are called "Fairy Penguins" in Australia.

Taxonomy

Picture

Picture credits:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_penguin
http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/factsheet/22697805
Maps from: http://species.mol.org/species/
Second image: "Little Penguin Feb09" by Taken byfir0002 | flagstaffotos.com.auCanon 5D II + Canon 400mm f/5.6 L - Own work. Licensed under GFDL 1.2 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Little_Penguin_Feb09.jpg#/media/File:Little_Penguin_Feb09.jpg
Third image: "Eudyptula minor -Perth Zoo, Australia -swimming-8a" by JP Bennett from Yamato, Japan - IMG_6876Uploaded by Snowmanradio. Licenced under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eudyptula_minor_-Perth_Zoo,_Australia_-swimming-8a.jpg#/media/File:Eudyptula_minor_-Perth_Zoo,_Australia_-swimming-8a.jpg
Forth image: "Little Penguin - Melbourne - Australia 01 (15358552336)" by Francesco Veronesi from Italy - Little Penguin - Melbourne - Australia 01. Licenced under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Little_Penguin_-_Melbourne_-_Australia_01_(15358552336).jpg#/media/File:Little_Penguin_-_Melbourne_-_Australia_01_(15358552336).jpg
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.