# Little penguin (*Eudyptula minor*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/little-penguin  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The little penguin (Eudyptula minor) is a bird in the penguin family Spheniscidae, order Sphenisciformes, also called Korora, Blue penguin, Fairy penguin and Little blue penguin. It is a medium-sized marine bird and aquatic predator with an adult body mass of 1.108 kg, with values from 1.085 to 1.244 kg reported by our sources. Clutches hold 2 eggs, incubated for 38 days, with 1.5 clutches per year, and sexual maturity comes at 2 years. Checklists record it in Australia, its geographic range covers 365,300 km², it is partially migratory, and the IUCN lists it as Least Concern.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 1.09 kg – 1.24 kg |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Lifespan | 14 years |
| Diet | Aquatic predator |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 16.9 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | marine |
| Egg incubation | 38 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 2 |
| Age at maturity | 23.9 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1.5 |
| Lifestyle | Aquatic |
| Migration | Partial |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | 1 country |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Sphenisciformes
- family: Spheniscidae
- genus: Eudyptula
- species: *Eudyptula minor* (J. R. Forster, 1781)

Synonyms: *Aptenodytes minor*

## Countries on record

Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.

Australia

## Common questions

### How heavy is a little penguin?

An adult Little penguin weighs 1.108 kg, with values from 1.085 to 1.244 kg reported by our sources.

### What does the little penguin eat?

The little penguin is an aquatic predator and a carnivore.

### Is the little penguin endangered?

No. It is listed as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.

### How long does a little penguin live?

The little penguin has a lifespan of 14 years, and our sources report values up to 16.92 years.

### How many eggs does a little penguin lay?

A clutch holds 2 eggs, with 1.5 clutches per year and an incubation period of 38 days.

### Which countries is the little penguin recorded in?

Checklists record the little penguin in Australia, and its geographic range covers 365,300 km².

### What other names does the little penguin have?

The little penguin is also called Korora, Blue penguin, Fairy penguin and Little blue penguin.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), CC BY 4.0, v7. Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Little penguin (Eudyptula minor). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/little-penguin