Spheniscidae-+Mulcahy

﻿Little Blue Penguin- //Eudyptula Minor//

**Family**: ﻿ Animals in the family Spheniscidae consist of a large group of flightless birds. They all live in the Southern Hemisphere. Since they can not fly, they have flippers instead of wings. All of the animals in this family are aquatic. **﻿﻿****Examples**: ﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿Four examples of animals from this family are the Emperor Penguin, the Chinstrap Penguin, the Adelie Penguin, and the Rockhopper Penguin.
 * [[image:http://www.ccpo.odu.edu/Research/globec/main_cruises02/lmg0205/pod/gentoo.jpg width="281" height="284" caption="The Gentoo Penguin"]] ||
 * The Gentoo Penguin ||

**﻿** **Characteristics **: ﻿Little Blue Penguins have blue plumage with a white belly. They are the smallest of all penguins. **Movement **: ﻿﻿The Little Blue Penguin moves by waddling, belly sliding(also called toboganning), and by swimming/diving for food. **Metabolism**: ﻿Little Blue Penguins eat by diving for food within 25 kilometers of the coast they are living at. Little Blue Penguins eat schooling fish, squid, and crustaceans.  **Growt﻿h and Development**: ﻿Little Blue Penguins mature to an adult at about 4-5 weeks, and they fledge(leave home) at about 8 weeks. They are two pounds and 15-25 inches tall when fully grown. **﻿**
 * [[image:http://www.penguin-pictures.net/macaroni_penguin.jpg width="248" height="308" caption="The Macaroni Penguin"]] ||
 * The Macaroni Penguin ||

**Response to Stimuli(things to adapt to environment)**: **Adaptation #1**: Little Blue Penguins have a layer of fat under their skin to keep warm in the freezing cold temperatures. **Adaptation #2**: They have a hook on their beak to firmly grasp prey. **Adaptation #3**: Their outer feathers act as a windbreaker.

**Reproduction**: Little Blue Penguin babies gestate for about 36 days. Little Blue Penguins can only have one baby at a time, but can have up to three babies in a season.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**Classification**: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Kingdom-Animalia <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Phylum-Chordata <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Class-Aves <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Order-Sphenisciformes <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Family-Spheniscidae <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Genus-//Eudyptula// <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Species- //Eudyptula minor//

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**Differences Between Males and Females**: There are not many differences between male and female Little Blue Penguins. The male is generally heavier and normally has a bigger beak, too.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Websites used: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">[] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">[] (for classification) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">[] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">[|http://www.antarcticconnection.com/antarctic/wildlife/penguins]