Little Blue penguins (Eudyptula minor) are also known as Fairy penguins, or Blue penguins. Their Maori name is Kororā. They are only found in the wild in the Southern Hemisphere along the coasts of New Zealand, Tasmania and Australia. Standing at between 16 and 17 inches and weighing around 2 pounds fully grown they are small indeed compared to Emperor or King penguins

Little Blue penguin - Image Author Sinead Friel

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In fact, they are the smallest species of penguin in the world which is why some call them Fairy penguins. Their plumage is of grey blue feathers which is why they are also called Little Blues or Blues by others.

The White-flippered Penguin

The White-flippered penguin is considered to be a subspecies of the Little Blue penguin and limited to areas in or around New Zealand's Motunau Island, Banks Peninsula and the North Canterbury coast. The distinguishing feature between the two is that the flippers of the White-flippered penguin have a white stripe around the edge which is absent from the Little Blues.

Hunting

Little Blue penguins like to spend most of the day hunting for food in the sea preferring shallow waters by the coastline where they congregate together. When dusk begins to fall they return noisily to their colonies where they live in rock crevices or burrows. At dawn they will return again to the sea making considerable noise along the way. They hunt for squid, anchovies, plankton, pilchards near to the shore and dive to about 30 feet deep to take sea horses, and crustaceans from the seabed swallowing their prey whole.

Breeding

In June females are met by males performing raucous and intricate courting rituals. Between June and August is the height of the egg laying period and the female produces two eggs which will need incubating for about five weeks.

Little Blues will use rock crevices or dig long burrows to use as nest and to lay eggs in. They mate for life and both male and female take it in turns to incubate the eggs and look after the chicks that are constantly attended to during their first three weeks of life.

In the following five weeks the adult birds will visit only to bring them regurgitated food. Following this period they then leave the nest, taking naturally to the sea, and catch food for themselves.

Predators

They have an average life expectancy of around seven years in the wild. In the sea their main predators are Lion, Fur, and Leopard seals, sharks and Killer whales. On land their main threats come from Gulls, Sea Eagles and man-made hazards such as plastic, oil spills, net fishing, getting run over on roads, and the loss of breeding grounds. They also are threatened by introduced species such as snake, foxes, feral cats, dogs, and rats, lizards and snakes that take eggs and kill chicks.