Any day with penguins seems rather happy to me but today's the official World Penguin Day! To celebrate the pretty black and white (and sometimes blue!) birds, check out the scoop about the 17 species of penguins worldwide. Many times, looking at their heads is the easiest way to tell them apart — makes sense because that's what we can see when they pop up from swim time — but see for yourself and get started.
Source: Jupiter Images
In wintry months, plenty of zoo animals have less exercise time. Unless they're cold weather fans, they can need extra motivation to move it, move it around that enclosure.
At the Asahiyama Zoo in Japan, keepers created a special path to let their King Penguins stroll (monitored) daily to counteract this lack of exertion . . . and invite zoo guests to watch nearby.
It's so cute that I couldn't resist sharing additional photos when you read more
Witness the hatching process of a penguin caught on camera! From the barely cracked egg to the big beak ready for a first meal, follow the photos to peep the process when you start this slideshow.
We've seen penguins wearing a little something extra both for holidays and cold weather protection, but Ralph here wears this ensemble for an entirely different reason. Check out the crew at Marwell Wildlife in Hampshire, England and read all about it!
All eyes were on some other Magellanic penguins at the San Francisco Zoo a couple weeks back— remember the love triangle of Harry, Pepper, and Linda? To recap that soap opera story, male Pepper got a new home when Harry took up with a female penguin.
Anyway, same species but different birds, these penguin chicks forge their way to a new home on Penguin Island in the annual March of the Penguins event. Yeah, they didn't have quite as dramatic a tale as the Emperor penguins featured in the movie of the same name, but these birds surely had to endure more (human) crowds as they traveled down some pavement to the new watery habitat.
See more pictures from the world's largest Magellanic penguin colony in captivity when you read more
Sad news to come out of San Francisco: Harry and Pepper have officially broken up . . . and Harry's moved on. The SF Zoo's famous same-sex penguin couple hit a rough patch when the single Linda befriended Harry after her long-time (male) companion, Fig, passed away.
This caused a fight between the original couple and the threesome was then separated. It's all water under the bridge as Pepper just returned to the penguin exhibit from a bachelor pad at the Avian Conservation Center and they were reintroduced in their enclosure on Friday.
Harry and Linda successfully nested this year but Harry and Pepper famously hatched an egg (from a different mama) together in 2008 acting as "the best parents that year." I guess he'll just be Uncle Pepper now?
This zoo has the largest Magellanic penguins colony in captivity in the world (nearly 60 birds!) — if you're local and want to check out these two, their left wing band numbers are 201 (Harry) and 207 (Pepper). See the classic video describing the birds and chicks, read more
A pair of gay male penguins are raising a chick in Germany's Bremerhaven zoo. The little chick was abandoned by its parents while it was still an egg, so the penguins put the egg in their nest and incubated it for 30 days. Since the chick hatched, they have continued to care for it.
If you're wondering how the zoo knows the penguins are gay, the pair has tried to mate with each other before, and they've shown no interest in female penguins. The zoo says: "Sex and coupling in our world don't always have something to do with reproduction."
Of course it's unclear if this would be allowed at the Arkansas zoo, since voters in that state outlawed gay adoption last November. If you're curious, here's a rundown of where gay adoption is legal in the US.
Meet North and South, rescued Fairy Penguins from the New South Wales state coastline. They were found on different beaches, one tangled in seaweed (aww!) but now the cuties are better.
Stop the presses, there's a new North in town. Granted not my town, and not even my pooch's species, but check out this penguin!
Tiny "North" was rescued along with his pal named – you guessed it – "South" from different beaches along the New South Wales state coastline. The two Little Penguins were taken to the Wildlife Hospital at Sydney's Taronga Zoo (home of Monifa) to be treated – one was found tangled in seaweed. Poor lil guy!
Sometimes called Fairy Penguins, they're the smallest species of this bird type. (If you're fuzzy on the rest, refresh your memory with a slideshow of all the species here).
Both birds were rereleased into the open ocean off the coast of Australia today so see more pictures of North and his pal South hitting the waves when you read more
These two gay male penguins love each other so much, and have become such good surrogate parents for baby penguins whose parents rejected their eggs, that zookeepers in Harbin, Northeast China decided to allow them . . . to get married. I have two questions. One, why can't this be the case here in the good ol' USA for humans, and two, why did the zookeepers dress them up if they're already naturally wearing tuxedos? That is all. Click here to read more.
