About Little Blue Fairy Penguins
Recognized as the smallest penguin species in the world, the Little Blue Fairy Penguin is also the most commonly found penguin in New Zealand. With their striking blue feathers and chatty social nature, these are some of the most interesting penguins in the world.
Identification
The Little Penguins, or Blue Fairy Penguins, are called "Little Blues" because of the striking indigo-blue or slate-gray color of their feathers on the top side of their body. Their underside, however, is a bright white color. The Blue Fairy Penguin is a very vocal bird, able to make a variety of sounds that range from cackling to quacking to screaming sounds--and even sometimes sounds that seem very similar to that of a cat's meow.
Size
The Blue Fairy Penguin is only 16 to 17 inches tall and weighs 2 to 2 1/2 lbs. The males are usually a little bit larger than the females, but not by so much that you would be able to tell them apart by it.
Geography
Little Blues are southern hemisphere penguins, living along the coasts of southern Australia as well as Tasmania, New Zealand, and the Chatham Islands. They can also be found in sub-antarctic regions south of New Zealand.
The Facts
The Blue Fairy Penguin was first observed for science and history by a German naturalist named Johann Reinhold Forster, who wrote down descriptions of them for journals in 1781. The scientific name for Little Blue Penguins is "Eudyptula minor." They are known by many names, however, including Fairy Penguins, Little Blue Penguins or just Blue Penguins. Among the Maori of New Zealand, they are known as "korara." Their lifespan is about 7 years if conditions are suitable for proper feeding and nesting. They are day hunters, swimming out into the ocean to hunt small fish, squid, krill and crustaceans. At night they return to their nests, made in rock crevices or burrows lined with plant material. Like several other species of penguin, the Little Blues mate for life. Both the males and females incubate the eggs and care for the young, which can include up to six chicks in a year.
Risk Factors
Little Blue Penguins live much closer to human settlements than most species of penguins, and therefore they suffer population loss more from human interference. They have been hit by cars while trying to cross busy roads, and have also been hunted by domesticated pets such as dogs and cats. Oil spills, fishing and loss of habitat have also caused a decrease in their population numbers. Their natural predators include killer whales, seals, sharks and seagulls, as well as introduced species such as foxes and snakes. Some colonies of Little Blues have declined into actual extinction, and a subspecies of these penguins--known as the White Flippered Penguin because of the white along the edge of its flippers--has been placed on the endangered species list.
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