Chattanooga Pulse

The Tennessee Aquarium’s penguin exhibit is quickly becoming a nursery as another newborn penguin was welcomed into the world this morning. “Yesterday we noticed a small dime or nickel-sized hole in the egg, but there wasn’t much progress throughout the day,” said senior aviculturist Amy Graves. “But when I came in this morning, the fluffy little chick was out.”

Since spotting the newborn early this morning, Graves has been able to see the whole chick several times. The Aquarium’s first baby gentoo penguin already resembles its parents “Bug” and “Big T” and looks different than the macaroni chick born nearly four weeks ago. “This gentoo chick is lighter in color on the back and has a darker head than the macaroni baby,” Graves said. “It already has that orange gentoo beak with a few darker markings.”

Big T has fed the tiny bird today which is a bit early for a newborn penguin. While Aquarium staff members are encouraged by this sign, they also point out that the first days of a baby animal’s life are some of the most crucial for survival. There’s no way to know right now whether the chick is 100 percent healthy. In addition, Bug and Big T are first-time parents and they haven’t exactly been gentle with their eggs. “They were a little rough while turning their eggs and tending them,” Graves said. “They broke one in the nest and chipped their remaining egg. Hopefully they are gentler with the baby because one misstep by the parents could injure the chick in the nest.”

Macaroni parents Paulie and Chaos are model parents according to Graves . “They have been great about protecting their chick, feeding it, keeping it warm and taking turns,” she said. “Ideally that’s what will happen with Bug and Big T. Then as we saw with the macaroni chick, if things go well, baby penguins grow fast.  So if you really want to see a baby penguin, you need to visit soon.” In fact, at yesterday’s weigh-in, the four-week-old macaroni baby tipped the scales at slightly more than four pounds.

While many Aquarium visitors are amazed at how fast the macaroni baby has grown, they are also fascinated and excited to see this new gentoo baby penguin. “Bug and Big T’s nest is in the center of the exhibit in an elevated position,” said Graves .  “We’ve already had several groups that were thrilled to see this new baby. It is so tiny and cute.”

The nest is also in a perfect spot for the aquarium’s live webcam. While it’s tough to see the small chick online, you can see the parents as well as curious neighbors stopping by to see the new addition.

There are two other gentoo pairs with eggs. If Poncho and Peep’s two eggs are viable, they could hatch later this month. The pair of eggs that Zeus and Pebbles are incubating could hatch around the first week of August. And penguin keepers are still observing the late nesting activities of Nipper and Flower.