Species profile

Name: the Humboldt penguin (Spheniscus humboldti) – also known as the Peruvian penguin or patranca – is a South American penguin named after the explorer Alexander von Humboldt. It is closely related to the African, Galapagos, and Magellanic penguins.

Appearance: Humboldt penguins have a black head with a white border that runs from behind the eye, around the ears and chin, and joins at the throat. They also have a distinctive pink band on their bills.

Size: they are medium-sized penguins growing up to 70 cm long and weighing up to 5.9 kg.

Diet: krill and small crustaceans make up the bulk of the Humboldt penguin’s diet as well as larger organisms such as squid and various species of fish.

Did you know: in 2009 at the Bremerhaven Zoo in Germany, two male Humboldt penguins adopted an egg that had been abandoned by its biological parents. After the egg hatched, the two penguins raised, protected, cared for, and fed the chick. A similar story happened again in 2014 with two male Humboldt penguins living in Wingham Wildlife Park in the UK.

Location: they are only found along the Pacific coast of South America from Peru to Chile.

Best places to see Humboldt penguins

According to reports submitted to WildSide, the best places to see Humboldt penguins are as follows:

Photo credit: gatierf under a Creative Commons license from Pixabay