Story: Penguins

Feeding the chick

Feeding the chick

Both parents feed their hatchling, which makes begging calls until a parent regurgitates food into its beak. The young chick’s need for regular feeding means that parents can only forage reasonably close to the colony. Once the chick is large enough to maintain its own warmth and to defend itself, both parents go away to forage. Here a Snares crested penguin is feeding its chick. 

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New Zealand Penguins
Photograph by Dave Houston

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How to cite this page:

Lloyd Spencer Davis, 'Penguins - Life on land', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/6390/feeding-the-chick (accessed 20 April 2024)

Story by Lloyd Spencer Davis, published 12 Jun 2006, reviewed & revised 11 Jul 2016