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Little Penguins (Eudyptula minor) are more commonly known as Fairy Penguins due to their small size. They are the smallest species of penguin and the only one found nesting on mainland Australia, where colonies can be found around Australia's southern coastline, and in Tasmania. A subspecies lives in New Zealand.
Typically growing to 40 centimetres tall and weighing about a kilogram, they live year-round in large colonies, with each individual breeding pair forming a burrow in which to raise their chicks (of which two are born at a time). They feed by hunting fish, squid, and other small sea animals, for which they travel and dive quite extensively.
Whilst not endangered as a whole, colonies in areas with significant human activity are under some threat from pollution and feral animals.
Little Penguins typically return to their colonies to feed their chicks at dusk; the birds will tend to come ashore in small groups to provide some defense against predators which might pick off individuals one by one. At Phillip Island, south-east of Melbourne, a viewing area has been set up to allow tourists to view the nightly "penguin parade". Lights have been erected to allow visitors to see and photograph the birds interacting in their colony, which they do with a total lack of interest in their spectators. The birds, which most tourists find irresistibly cute, are Victoria's most popular tourist attraction.
1 Trivia
Linus Torvalds, the original creator of LinuxThis article is about Linux-based operating systems, GNU/Linux, and related topics. See Linux kernel for the kernel itself. See Linux (washing powder) for the Swiss brand of washing powder. Tux, a plump penguin, is the official Linux mascot Linux is the n (a popular computer operating systemIn computing, an operating system OS is the system software responsible for the direct control and management of hardware and basic system operations, as well as running application software such as word processing programs and web browsers. In general, t), was once bitten by a Little Penguin while on holiday in Australia. Reportedly, this encounter encouraged Torvalds to select TuxThis article is about the Linux mascot. For the formalwear, see tuxedo. Linux mascot, were developed in email exchanges on a public mailing list. Tux is the official mascot of the Linux operating system. Tux, created by in 1996, is a chubby penguin that l as the official Linux mascot/logo.
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