Friday, February 3, 2012

A Mystery Revealed

Linda G guessed a platypus which is a non marsupial native Aussie (a monotreme to be exact).

Susan got nearer than she thought with “Doesn't look like feathers”

Zoologist Kristen had two goes, she got very close but picked the wrong guy. Yes some feathers do look like fur! (And Oz has about 60 native rodent species so that was a good guess too)

Sorry Carolyn V not a Kanga.

Myrna it is feathers but not a cockatoo!

So closer this time but the mystery critter is
A fairy penguin !
Also known as little penguins (Eudyptula minor) and blue penguins these guys are found in the waters around Southern Oz and Kiwiland (uh New Zealand).They are the smallest of all penguins and are ultra-cute.
They breed in burrows in colonies scattered around the coast of Oz and NZLike my last tough one I posted a piccie with this guy some time ago.
I shot these guys at Melbourne Zoo. The Zoo population were either bred in captivity or rescued in waters around Melbourne because they were sick or injured.
There are a number of colonies in Port Phillip bay the closest being at suburban St Kilda.

8 comments:

Old Kitty said...

Awwww Penguins have lush fur!! Who knew?!?! How lovely!! Yay for Penguins!!

Oooh can't wait to see what's next! This is fun!

Take care
x

Linda G. said...

Wow! I've never seen a penguin up close and personal. Who knew feathers could look so much like fur?

Laura Josephsen said...

Awww, they are so cute!!

Myrna Foster said...

Those are adorable. Thanks, Al!

Susan Flett Swiderski said...

Well, jeepers! No fair! How are we supposed to guess a kind of penguin we never even knew existed??? They are cute little boogers, aren't they?

Kristen M. said...

I guessed a bird because of the texture/strange refraction of the bottom left corner. I was right that it was feathers but quite wrong on the size of the bird. ;)

Wendy said...

So cute! I got to be at a penguin feeding at a zoo one time. They were delightful.

Carolyn V said...

Aw! They are so cute!!! I guess it's okay that they aren't Kangaroos. ;)