Posted by Craig Newberry, CommunicationsPhotos: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park ZooWe are eggstatic to announce the arrival of a new Humboldt penguin chick!The chick hatched June 20 to mom Merlin and dad Tucker; she represents the first chick between the parents. Incubation for penguins takes 39 to 41 days, with both parents sharing incubation duties in the nest and day-to-day care for their chicks. Most penguins mate for life.The yet-to-be named chick remains in a nesting burrow where she is under the care of mom and dad. Staff routinely weigh her to ensure she’s achieving growth milestones with minimal disturbance to the parents. The chick will join the colony in the outdoor habitat later this summer.Thanks to the expertise and dedication of the penguin care staff, Woodland Park Zoo has one of the most successful Humboldt penguin breeding programs in North America. Since the zoo’s first breeding season in 2010, a year after the new penguin habitat opened, the zoo has successfully raised 98 chicks. With the addition of the new chick, the zoo’s colony currently consists of 34 penguins.Parents Merlin and Tucker were paired under a breeding recommendation made by the Humboldt Penguin Species Survival Plan, a cooperative, breeding program across accredited zoos to help ensure a healthy, self-sustaining population of penguins.Not from a land of ice, but from a desert by the seaPeople do not usually think of penguins as a desert-dwelling species. However, unlike their ice and snow-dwelling Antarctic cousins, Humboldt penguins inhabit hot, dry coastlines in Peru and Chile.They live on rocky mainland shores, especially near cliffs, or on coastal islands.Humboldt penguins have a body made to swim. Using their strong wings, they “fly” underwater, usually just below the surface, at speeds of up to 20 miles per hour. They steer with their feet and tail.Support is crucial to safeguard penguinsA vulnerable species, approximately 23,800 Humboldt penguins survive in their natural range.Woodland Park Zoo is committed to conserving Humboldt penguins by supporting the Center for Conservation of the Humboldt Penguin in Punta San Juan, Peru; breeding the birds through the Species Survival Plan; and encouraging visitors to choose sustainable seafood options as directed by Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program. Punta San Juan is home to 5,000 Humboldt penguins, the largest colony in Peru.Show love and support for the new penguin chick with a ZooParent adoption! The ZooParent program supports the zoo’s animal care, education, and wildlife conservation in the Pacific Northwest and around the world.