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Little penguin can reach 13 inches in height and up to 3 pounds of weight.
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Little penguin is bluish-grey colored with white plumage on the belly. Nickname "little blue penguin" refers to the plumage on the head and back.
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Little penguin has dark grey beak, stiff, paddle-shaped flippers and streamlined body.
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Little penguin is an excellent swimmer with maximum swimming speed of 6 miles per hour. It usually collects food in the shallow water, but it occasionally dives to a depth of nearly 263 feet. Little penguin can stay less than 2 minutes under the water.
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Little penguin is diurnal bird. It spends most of a day on the sea in search for food.
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Little penguin is a carnivore. Its diet is based on the krill, squids and small fish.
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Unlike other species of penguin, little penguins parade at night when they return from the sea to their burrows on the coast.
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Little penguin is not a migratory bird. It spends its entire life in the same area. 629 miles is the longest, ever recorded distance traveled by little penguin.
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Little penguin produces up to 9 different calls for communication with other penguins. Short, sharp barking sound is usually produced when little penguin is at the sea, while snorting yelps can be heard when it is at danger.
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Little penguin is social animal that lives in large colonies.
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Natural enemies of little penguins are seals, sharks, rats, weasels, foxes, sea eagles, large gulls and snakes.
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Mating season of little penguins starts at June (or August in some areas). Males perform complex mating rituals to impress females.
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Little penguins mate in the same areas year after year. They form monogamous couples that last for a lifetime.
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Female lays 2 eggs in the crevices of rocks or in the burrow in the ground. Eggs hatch after incubation period of 5 weeks. Both parents take part in the incubation of eggs and provide food for their chicks. Young little penguins become ready for the independent life at the age of 8 weeks. Females reach sexual maturity at the age of 2 years, males one year later.
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Little penguin can survive 7 years in the wild and up to 26 years in the captivity.
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