Humboldt Penguins at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo

What our zoo penguins eat…

  • Our penguin colony eats about 30,000 pounds of fish every year! That’s 2 lbs of fish per penguin per day.
  • Penguins eat herring, capelin and smelt.
  • Penguins will only eat whole fish, head first.
  • Some birds are partial to some fish.
  • We receive two shipments of whole fish per year from fisheries in the Northeast, which is stored in our freezer.
  • Our keepers defrost the fish and then look over each one to make sure they are whole and intact; any damaged fish are discarded.
  • Penguins are fed whole fish by hand 2-3 times daily, which allows keepers to monitor their intake and detect any signs of appetite change.
  • Penguins eat more fish to gain a lot of weight before molting, when they lose all of their feathers at one time.Because they are not waterproof during this period they don’t enter the water. In the wild they wouldn’t be able to catch fish.
  • During molting season, the keepers recorded one penguin eating 70 fish in one day (approx. 35 lbs of fish).

Humboldt Penguins …

  • Live along the West Coast of South America from Peru toChilé.
  • Are named after the cold Humboldt Current running from the Antarctic to the equator.
  • Endangered due to overfishing, guano harvesting (for fertilizer)and warming of the Humboldt Current (due to El Nino, climate change)
  • Are one of 17 species of penguins in the world (ALL penguins in the wild are found South of the equator)
  • Are 15 and 18 inches tall and weigh between 6 and 13 pounds.
  • Have solid bones to enable them to stay submerged in the water.
  • Cannot fly in the air but can “fly” through water up to speeds of 20 mph.
  • Distinctive plumage camouflages them from predators when they are in the water (their white bellies blend with the sky if seen from below and their dark backs blend with the waterif seen from above). On land, they huddle for safety from predators.
  • Juveniles are primarily slate gray across the head and back and lack the bold double stripe of the adults. They will get their adult plumage when they are one year old, after their first molt.
  • Have spear-like beaks for fishing, webbed feet for swimming and excellent eyesight for hunting.
  • Have 70 feathers per square inch (more than any other bird).
  • Have an oily gland near the base of their tail used for preening to keep waterproof.
  • Build nests from guano (poop!).
  • Vocalize like donkeys (bray).
  • Mate for life.
  • Lifespan: in the wild 20 years; in captivity over 30 years.

Penguins at our zoo:

  • PenguinCoast opened at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in 2005.
  • Birds are identified by the color of the bands on their flippers:males have a band on their right flipper, females on the left.
  • Matching colors between males and females do not necessarily indicate a pair
  • Rosamond Gifford Zoo participates in the Species Survival Plan (SSP), a conservation breeding program designed to preserve this endangered species.
  • As of February 2012, our zoo has successfully hatched 35 chicks! Some of these chicks have remained at our zoo, while others have gone to other zoos and aquariums.
  • Keepers from other zoos have come to train with the penguin keepers at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo to learn our successful practices.
  • Exhibit pool is 50,000 gallons of freshwater and is about 12 feet deep.
  • Pool water is warmed to about 50₀F in the winter and cooled to about 60₀ F in the summer to simulate the Humboldt Current.