
Fairy Penguin #1

by Blair Stuart
Title
Fairy Penguin #1
Artist
Blair Stuart
Medium
Photograph - Digital Images
Description
This FAIRY PENGUIN was captured on a cold winters day on Philip Island in Victoria. They are also known as LITTLE PENGUIN and LITTLE BLUE PENGUIN.
Penguins are only found in the Southern Hemisphere and the Little Blue (or Fairy Penguin) are found along the shores of Southern Australia and New Zealand.
Their scientific name is "Eudyptula minor", Eudyptula being Greek for "good little diver, which is a great description for this smallest species of penguin Little penguins spend their days out at sea in groups, referred to as rafts and at dusk they return to their burrows or rock crevice colonies, in small groups Whilst on land they are very noisy especially before their pre dawn departure back to sea to feed
DESCRIPTION
These small penguins (16 inches) have a bluish colour to their upper feathers, and white underbelly , chin and neck and no ornamental plumage on the head at all. There weight is around the 1kg mark
Like most penguins their bodies are best described as short and stocky to "chubby". The Little Penguins short stiff feathers are kept waterproof by preening from oil glands located at the base of the tail Little penguins do molt though so their feathers are not always oily smooth
FEEDING
Fairy Penguins catch most of their food with shallow dives (0 to 11 meters) but do also sometimes dive to the seabed They eat small fish such as anchovies, squid, plankton, krill, small octopi and pilchards From the seafloor they may eat crab larvae, sea horses and crustaceans They eat their fish whole
Image � 2011 Copyright Stuart Media Services All Rights Reserved
Uploaded
July 7th, 2012
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Comments (11)

Christiane Schulze
This image looks so sweet Blair.......like this little guy and your great descreption - Chris (F/V/T)
Blair Stuart replied:
As always Christiane your comments and support is highly regarded and valued. My thanks too for the V/F/T

Heidi Smith
So beautiful, Blair! What a great capture! f/v
Blair Stuart replied:
Thank you Heidi, your feedback is much appreciated and valued. Thanks too for the f/v...cheers, Blair

Blair Stuart
Thank you Sandi, for the Feature in your "Beauty of this World" Group it is much appreciated.

Luke Moore
Such a cool capture Blair! That blue is striking. The description was very informative too. F/V

Bob Orsillo
Oh my what cute little guy! Awesome capture Blair! v/f/su
Blair Stuart replied:
Thank you Bob, appreciated as always my friend are your kind words, feedback and the f/v/su....cheers Blair

Tori Lawrence
Oh, Blair what a cute capture!! Thank you for including a description! It was fun to read about them. :) voted!
Blair Stuart replied:
Thank you so much Tori for the kind words and generous feedback, it is greatly appreciated and valued. So glad you liked the write-up. Thanks too for the Vote..... Blair

Lianne Schneider
Oh Lord - I just LOVE this! Your bird images today are so beautiful and this one is particularly endearing! Fantastic information too Blair - thank you for that. F/V
Blair Stuart replied:
Cheers Lianne, thank you so much for the wonderful and generous feedback, it is greatly appreciated and valued. So glad you like this image, it is a favourite of mine. Thanks too for the F/V..... Blair