Welcome To The World, Tiny Magellanic Penguin!

(Photo via S.F. Zoo on Facebook)

 

The San Francisco Zoo's colony of Magellanic penguins got a little bit bigger last week. It's hatching season and the chicks have started cracking out of their shells like downy, fun-size version of their parents. As cute as they are, our pals at the Zoo had to ruin the fun by reminding us the little fluffs have to survive for the next few weeks on a diet of "regurgitated fish mash," which sounds like something you might find in Fisherman's Wharf after a particularly choppy ferry ride from Alcatraz.
The Zoo describes the baby food diet, by way of welcoming the chick to the world:

Welcome little one! This is Magellanic penguin Maggie and her 1-week-old chick. At this stage, both parents are regurgitating fish mash to the chick several times each day.

Gross. And adorable. All at once. So cute we might puke!
After the chicks have a couple weeks to fill up on parental barf and learn how to waddle on their own, they'll make their public debut at the zoo's March of the Penguins event, which usually happens in July.

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