Humboldt Penguins

  
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Fun Facts

• Penguins can fly — underwater! Penguins are natural swimmers, and they use their wings to propel them underwater at speeds up to 17 mph!

• Humboldt penguins grow to be 15 to 18 inches and weigh about 9 pounds.

• Humboldt penguins can live up to 20 years in the wild, and up to 30 years in zoos.

• Humboldt penguins can identify each other by voice. They might sound the same to us, but they sound very different to each other.

• While Arctic penguins group together for warmth, the Humboldt penguins don’t need to do that. Instead, they group together because they are social birds and because staying in a group protects them from predators.

• Penguins can blush! But unlike us, it’s not because they are embarrassed. They blush to cool themselves off. Penguins flush pink on the skin on their faces, wings and feet, which sends blood to bare parts of their bodies and lowers their temperature.

• Penguin parents rotate parenting duties. One will stay back and take care of the chick, while the other goes out and gets food. Then they switch.

• Penguins can drink salt water. They have a special, supraorbital gland that allows them to filter out salt and drink only the good stuff. However, since Woodland Park Zoo’s penguins live in fresh water, they don’t need to use the gland.

• Humboldt penguins, like other penguin species, are black and white for defensive reasons (not because they like tuxedos). If a penguin is underwater and you look down at it, the black blends in with the ocean floor, and it’s harder to see them. And if you are underneath the penguin and look up, the white bellies blend in with the light coming from above the water. It would be tough to play hide-and-seek with a penguin underwater.