CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Just in time for winter, the African penguin colony at Lincoln Park Zoo has grown by one.
An endangered African penguin chick hatched Nov. 26 at Lincoln Park Zoo’s Robert and Mayari Pritzker Penguin Cove.
The chick is the fourth African Penguin to hatch and be reared at Robert and Mayari Pritzker Penguin Cove, which opened in 2016 as part of The Pride of Chicago capital campaign. The chick is the offspring of pair Sunny (female) and TJ (male), which according to the zoo, are doing a remarkable job caring for the chick.
According to the zoo, African penguin chicks typically "fledge" – or leave the nest - 70 to 80 days after hatching. The chick will retain its downy feathers until it molts into waterproof juvenile plumage. After one to two years, African penguins molt into their iconic tuxedo-like adult plumage.
African penguins are also called black-footed penguins, due to the color of their feet, the zoo said in a statement. They have pink coloration around their eyes, black breast-band and belly markings. African penguins are the only penguin species that breeds in Africa and they inhabit a coastal range from South Africa to Namibia.