Humboldt Penguin

The Humboldt penguin is named after the strip of water it swims in, the Humboldt Current, which provides a rich harvest of squid, krill and small schooling fish, the staple diet of the penguin. They are found along the rather temperate coast of Chile and Peru, unlike their colder climate relatives.

These birds are monogamous, and both adults will share responsibility for nest building and chick rearing. Hatching after an incubation period of 40 days, chicks usually leave the nest at around 12 weeks old.

Humboldt penguins have been known to live up to around 30 years old in captivity, which is far longer than in the wild.

They are listed as Vulnerable, and face a number of threats in the wild, including hunting, predation, food shortage due to human over-hunting and human damage to their habitat.

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Conservation status

Extinct

Extinct in the wild

Critically endangered

Endangered

Vulnerable

Near threatened

Least concern

Insufficient data

Not evaluated