Two Little Hummers

Baby Penguins
updated: May 07, 2010, 6:08 AM
Source: SB Zoo. Photos by Katie Clemons and Sheri Horiszny

Two Humboldt penguins have hatched at the Santa Barbara Zoo, one on March 16 and another on April 15. Both share the same parents and both are being raised by foster penguin parents. The chicks and foster parents are now housed off-exhibit until the chicks learn to swim. Humboldt penguins are IUCN-listed as vulnerable in their native habitat along the Pacific coast of South America, from Peru to Chile.

Only two of the Zoo's 15 adult Humboldt penguins have a recommendation to breed under the Species Survival Plan of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). This one pair produced the Zoo's first penguin chick last June, which was also foster reared. The rest of the flock's genes are well represented in the overall captive population; they will not reproduce. "This pair has a history of challenges with chick rearing but they are valuable to the population as a whole," says Alan Varsik, Assistant Zoo Director. "So we make sure the eggs hatch and the chicks have every opportunity for success. We only promote breeding for that pair which we need more representation from and not those which already have a lot of relatives in the population."

After the first egg was laid the zookeepers removed it and placed it with another bonded penguin pair. They immediately began caring for it as if it was their own. The breeding pair later "double clutched" and produced a second egg, which was also cared for by foster penguin parents.

There are several other penguin pairs at the Zoo who spend all their time together and spend time in the nest cavity. Keepers sometimes give those pairs "dummy" eggs to keep them from laying their own. Those pairs are also used as foster parents.

Animal Care staff has taken over care of the chicks for the next few weeks until they are old enough to swim. The chicks will be off-exhibit, behind-the-scenes until that time. Just as wild birds "fledge" and take their first flight, penguins take their first swim.

"This is the age when chicks would naturally begin to gain independence in the wild," adds Sheri Horiszny, the Zoo's Director of Animal Programs. "We want to make sure they grow waterproof feathers and can swim well before they have access to the big pool in the exhibit."

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