Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor)
About the Little Penguin
The little penguin (Eudyptula minor) is the smallest species of penguin in the world, and originates from New Zealand and Australia. It is commonly known as the fairy penguin, little blue penguin, or blue penguin, owing to its slate-blue plumage, and is also known by its Māori name kororā. It is a marine neritic species that dives for food throughout the day and returns to burrows on the shore at dusk. Eudyptula minor feathers are dense in melanosomes, which increase water resistance and give them their unique blue colour. The Australian little penguin (Eudyptula novaehollandiae), from Australia and the Otago region of New Zealand, was initially described as Spheniscus novaehollandiae in 1826 but was later classified as Eudyptula minor novaehollandiae, a subspecies of the little penguin.
No audio on this page yet
We only publish recordings we may use commercially, because this site is supported by ads. xeno-canto lists 55 recordings for this species: 33 CC BY-NC-SA · 2 CC BY-NC-ND. None of them permits commercial use, so there is no player here — the page is kept as a profile so the bird is not missing from the guide.
As soon as someone uploads a freely licensed recording, we mirror it and the player appears here.
Listed as recorded in Australia, New Zealand in the xeno-canto catalogue.
Other birds you can hear here
- Australasian SwamphenPorphyrio melanotusrecording
- Australian Golden WhistlerPachycephala pectoralisrecording
- Australian MagpieGymnorhina tibicenrecording
- Baillon's CrakeZapornia pusillarecording
- Bar-tailed GodwitLimosa lapponicarecording
- Black SwanCygnus atratusrecording
These are the birds recorded alongside it, not close relatives — the site holds no other member of its genus or family yet.