All About Yellow Eyed Penguins
Yellow-eyed Penguins are the third largest of all of the 17 species of penguins. These penguins measure around 22-31 inches tall and weigh approximately 10 -13 pounds. The Yellow-eyed Penguin lives and breeds on the coastline of New Zealand, as well as the islands south of New Zealand. The male and female penguins share the responsibility of building their nest. They build their nests far away from other penguins in the forest or in thick grass. These nests are shallow bowl shaped areas in the ground lined with plant material. The female penguin almost always lays two eggs and more often than not both chicks will survive. After the mother penguin lays her eggs, both parents will share the responsibility of keeping the eggs warm and protected until they hatch about 39-51 days later. Both the parents will share the responsibility of caring for and protecting the newly hatched chicks for around 40 days. These chicks will stay with their parents, instead of joining crèches with other chicks for around 106 days until they have their adult feathers. Upon growing their adult feathers the chicks will go to sea and be on there own. The Yellow-eyed penguin gets it's name from the yellow-orange cat-like eyes. These penguins are the rarest of all of the 17 species of penguins.