Oregon Zoo Welcomes Most Precious Baby Penguin to Its Family
There's nothing cuter than a brand-new baby, animals included. CBS News recently shared a clip celebrating a new arrival at the Oregon Zoo, a precious baby penguin! The video was shared on Friday, March 29th and showed the baby as caretakers checked to make sure that it was warm and cozy.
The tiny chick is covered in fuzzy gray feathers and fits into the palm of the caretaker's hand. They weigh the chick and gently rub its back as the baby curiously takes in its new world. Its beak only appears to be the length of a fingernail. It's just adorable!
CBS News said in the video's caption, "A pint-sized penguin hatched at the Oregon Zoo. The fuzzy bird is the 194th Humboldt chick to hatch at the zoo since it began breeding the threatened species in the 1980s." Commenters agreed that the baby penguin was too cute, and I wasn't the only one who wished I could hold it!
Related: Video of Aquarium’s Brand New Baby Penguin Is So Cute We Can’t Even
Interesting Facts About Penguins
I think penguins are absolutely adorable and fun to watch, but I've learned a thing or two about them since I started writing about animals. National Geographic wildlife photographer Bertie Gregory taught me that penguin colonies smell absolutely terrible... penguins stink! Once I learned that I thought, "How bad could they really be?" That was until my family recently visited the Georgia Aquarium -I could smell the penguins before I could see them...it really is that bad!
Penguins are very observant. These two penguins spotted a 'hidden' camera that researchers put out in Antarctica, and the pair pulled off the ultimate photobomb! This fact always makes me swoon - did you know that penguins love to give each other rocks? It's one of the ways that male penguins woo perspective mates...the perfect rock is the best gift around!
This baby penguin won't be little for long. Penguins love to eat. They will eat up to 2 pounds of food each day, and almost double that during the winter months.
Another cool fact has to do with their coloring. In about six weeks, the chick will start growing its juvenile plumage, and over the next year and a half, will grow into its black and white feathering. And a penguin's tuxedo-like feathers aren't just a fashion statement; the colors not only help camouflage them from predators on land but help them in the water while hunting and swimming. If you look at them from above, their black backs blend into the dark ocean water. If you look up at them from below, their white bellies match the bright surface. What a cool party trick!
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