Two Magellanic Penguin chicks hatched at the Aquarium in June. First-time parents Floyd and Roxy, residents of the Aquarium’s June Keyes Penguin Habitat, incubated both eggs. The one-month-old chicks are currently being cared for behind the scenes at the Aquarium and will be on public view when they join the other birds in the penguin habitat later this summer. In the meantime, the chicks can be seen via webcam starting Tuesday, July 30. The Penguin Cam is available courtesy of explore.org, the philanthropic multimedia arm of the Annenberg Foundation.
Magellanic Penguins are a temperate species native to the coasts of Argentina and Chile in South America. It takes between thirty-eight and forty-three days of incubation before a Magellanic Penguin egg will hatch. The chicks hatch with their eyes closed, and they are able to open their eyes about a week later. Magellanic Penguin parents take turns incubating the eggs on the nest and feeding and raising the chicks after they hatch.
The chicks fledge, or replace their downy newborn feathers with water-tight adult feathers, after about 90 days. The Aquarium’s penguin chicks are expected to fledge in August and join their parents and the other penguins on exhibit in the June Keyes Penguin Habitat.