Baby Penguin Goes on Public View
Credit: Photo by Robin Riggs
August 8, 2017
The Aquarium’s baby Magellanic Penguin that hatched earlier this year has grown its watertight feathers, allowing it to join the rest of the penguins in the June Keyes Penguin Habitat. It will be on exhibit starting August 8 and can be distinguished from the adults by its lighter-colored plumage and lack of a stripe across its chest. Magellanic Penguins are a temperate species native to the coasts of Argentina and Chile in South America.
The chick hatched in late May to parents Roxy and Floyd, who cared for the chick when it first hatched. The young penguin was then taken to a behind-the-scenes nursery, where Aquarium animal care staff taught the baby to accept food from keepers and swim in shallow pools. During that time, the chick could be seen on a live webcam, made available by explore.org, the philanthropic multimedia arm of the Annenberg Foundation.
This year’s chick represents the fifth generation of Aquarium-born penguins and is the tenth to hatch here. Two penguins hatched in 2016: Fisher and Astaire. One penguin hatched in 2015 (Lily), four hatched in 2014 (Paddles, Jayde, Mattson, and Skipper) and two hatched in 2013 (Heidi and Anderson). Roxy and Floyd are also the parents of Lily, Skipper, Heidi, and Anderson.
In celebration of the baby bird, the Aquarium is offering the opportunity to adopt the chick through its Adopt an Animal program. Those adopting a penguin chick at the $100 level or higher before September 30, 2017, will have a chance to go behind the scenes for a feeding and training session with the penguins.
