The Oregon Zoo Welcomed a (Sort of) Cute Baby Penguin Yesterday

It's parents, Blue and Esquela, are sitting on another egg, which is expected to hatch later this week.

(A recently hatched Humboldt penguin gets a checkup at the Oregon Zoo. Photo by Michael Durham, courtesy of the Oregon Zoo.)

A baby chick joined the zoo's family of Humboldt penguins yesterday. It's parents, Blue and Esquela, are sitting on another egg, which is expected to hatch later this week.

Zookeeper Gwen Harris says other penguins are sitting on four more eggs, and she has hopes for even more eggs before the breeding season is over.

Visitors can go visit the new little chicks in the spring, when they'll be almost as tall as their parents. They won't develop a tuxedo, however, for a few more years.

Until then, they'll be hanging out in their nest boxes and eating "fish smoothies," which can't be too different from life in their native Peru and Chile, right??

Here's a video of the little penguin chick, demonstrating the miracle of life. It's sort of cute, but also cold and goo-covered.

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office. Support WW's journalism today.