The Aquarium’s Magellanic Penguins are tending to their nests.

Nest boxes are installed behind holes in the rock walls of the June Keyes Penguin Habitat. Our penguins are in the middle of their breeding season and Kate and Avery can be seen building their nest.

AOP’s penguins are in the middle of their breeding season. Magellanic penguins build nests at this time each year. Females lay two eggs, which take between 38 and 42 days to hatch. Should we have any chicks at the Aquarium this year, they will be cared for in the nest by their parents in the early days after they hatch. When the chicks are ready to leave the nest, usually after around twenty days, Aquarium experts will move the chicks to its behind-the-scenes nursery where they will learn how to eat hand-fed fish from our staff biologists and how to swim. Once chicks are ready, they will join the other birds in the June Keyes Penguin Habitat. It is usually around that time that we will know if the chicks are female or male and can decide on the naming process.