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Birch Aquarium Welcomes First Little Blue Penguin Chick Raised by Its Parents

Daily evaluations led the team to let a young pair rear one of two eggs.

Overview

  • For the first time at the Beyster Family Little Blue Penguins habitat, a chick was incubated and reared on habitat by its penguin parents, aquarium officials said.
  • A young pair produced two eggs this season, and staff authorized the pair to incubate and raise one egg based on observed nesting promise.
  • Both parents shared roughly five weeks of incubation before the parent-reared chick hatched on Dec. 23, with a second chick hatching Dec. 25 in the aquarium’s care center.
  • The parent-reared chick is temporarily behind the scenes during fledging and will begin learning to swim and socialize once waterproof feathers come in; guests can follow updates via the aquarium’s channels.
  • Opened in 2022 as the aquarium’s first seabird exhibit, the Beyster habitat introduced Little Blue Penguins to the West Coast and houses a colony drawn from five partner zoos and aquariums.