Love is in the Air for our Humboldt Penguins

It’s the season of love for our Humboldt penguin colony! The penguin team opened their nest boxes at the beginning of January, which is the start of their breeding season, and goes until May. There are tunnels hidden in the rockwork on the exhibit that lead to their behind-the-scenes nest boxes.

If you do not see our penguins out on exhibit during your next visit, they are most likely spending time with their mates and building nests in their boxes. Keepers have given the penguins small flat rocks and some matting material that they can build their nests with. During this time they spend most of the day in their boxes, usually coming out to eat twice a day and take a swim. At night, they also sleep in their boxes. Guests may also see them come out to collect more nesting material, some penguins even steal material from other boxes.  

All our penguins have names, and we identify them with colorful bands on their flippers. If the band is on their left flipper, it is a female and on the right flipper, it’s a male. Be on the lookout for some of our notable couples; Dora (brown) and Queso (blue/yellow), Chula (light blue) and Hermann (grey), Churro (light green) and Alex (dark green).

To attract a female, males will display to them by raising their head, flapping their wings, and making a loud donkey-like braying sound (called ecstatic displays). Pairs can also recognize each other by their voice. Throughout breeding season, the lights are kept off in the back where their nest boxes are. The exhibit lighting is also set to mimic the natural sunrise and sunset times that would occur for penguins in the wild. Their animal care team is also mindful by keeping the area quieter, trying to be as least disruptive as possible during breeding season. 

You may have heard “penguins mate for life,” so far this season no one has rocked the boat and all couples have stayed together since last breeding season! To learn more about our colony, come to one of our daily Meet the Keeper Chats sponsored by CenterPoint Energy Foundation at 1:30 p.m.