Penguin Point

Did you know?

How long can you hold your breath while grocery shopping? Magellanic penguins can breath-hold for 3-5 minutes, which lets them dive deep for food.

Discover penguins

Habitat

Wild and Zoo

These penguins nest and breed in low forests or flat land along the southern coast of South America. But they’re pelagic - they spend most of their lives at sea. Find ours uphill from the Wild Wonders theater.

Plan your day

Meet the Keepers

Did you know that otters sleep wrapped up in kelp? That seals can waddle on land as well as swim? Our keepers often chat while they feed the penguins - keep a look out!

Zookeeper Life: Stephanie

Daily Presentations

Meet the penguins

Blue

Orange

Purple

Pink

Yellow

Red

White

Maxine

Gryff

Myrtle

Luna

Dwight

Jim

Amy

Rio

Regina

Eating (and predators!)	Magellanic penguins eat seafood: mostly anchovies and sardines, but also cuttlefish, squid and krill.	Predators include giant petrels, foxes, pumas, sea lions, orcas and humans. Chicks and eggs can fall prey to kelp gulls, skuas and more.
Taking turns to keep the egg warm.	Males attract mates by “braying” like donkeys; when a female responds he walks around her in a circle patting her with his flippers.	Parents take turns incubating the eggs, and newborns stay with parents for a month.
Preening each other.	About 27 inches tall, Magellanic penguins are about in the middle of the penguin height range.	Mated pairs preen each other and hit bill tips together to bond.

Protecting penguins

Coated by oil, starved by plastic.

THE THREAT: Magellanic penguins face many threats in the wild. Oil spills coat their bodies. Plastic pollution chokes and starves them. Commercial fishing depletes their food, and they themselves are hunted.

TAKE ACTION: Protect our oceans – and their birds – by reducing your use of plastics and fossil fuels. Support wildlife protection laws, and speak up against off-shore drilling.

Take action

Marine Stories

TUFTED PUFFIN CHICKS HATCHED

There’s some extra excitement in the Rocky Shores seabird habitat at the zoo: Five tufted puffin chicks, known as pufflings, hatched recently! After pufflings hatch, they stay in a nest … Continued

Bringing Awareness to Sea Otters

Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium is home to three endangered sea otters in the Rocky Shores habitat. Every year, Sea Otter Awareness Week takes place during the last full week of September … Continued

Penguin Chick Regina Joins Penguin Point

Penguin chick Regina passed her “swimming lessons” and can now be seen in Penguin Point with the rest of the Magellanic penguin colony. The two-month-old chick, raised by parents Orange … Continued

Read the blog

Who's nearby?

Seen our penguins? Find the rest of the Rocky Shores animals over on the other side of the Zoo, past the Pacific Seas Aquarium. Next to the penguins you’ll find the Discovery Hut.

Rocky Shores