- [Alex] So this is low, watch your head getting in here.

Hi.

Hi.

We have two groups of penguins here in Milwaukee County Zoo.

We have the Sub Antarctic or indoor penguins, which is the exhibit we're in right now, which houses four males and three female Gentoos and five male and five female Rockhoppers.

Our outdoor exhibit, the Humboldt's are exposed to ambient air temperatures in the Milwaukee area, and they are temperate penguins, which means they like a little bit warmer climate.

So they're comfortable in our normal environmental conditions here in Milwaukee.

This is an indoor facility, so we can temperature, control the temperature they're Subantarctic penguins, which means they're not necessarily found on the Antarctic continent itself.

Most of these birds are found in between Antarctica and the Southern tip of South America or South Africa.

So the Rockhopper is, they are one of the smallest species of penguins.

The Rockhoppers are one of seven crested species of penguins, meaning they have crest feathers above their eyes, they look kind of like fancy eyes, eyebrows.

They are the smallest of the seven crested species of penguins.

And those are just adornment or plumage that make them more attractive to their mates.

We have two nesting pair of Gentoo's, both of which are on chicks that hatched out around Christmas time.

So these are Humboldt penguins.

These guys being temperate or warmer weather birds, enjoy milder climates.

During the nesting season when they're incubating eggs and raising chicks, there's always somebody attending the nest and the egg and the chick.

So one of the birds is always at the nest site and the other one is out at the sea feeding, getting full of fish so he can, or she can come back to the nest and swap duties with the female.

So, they rotate on and off.

Somebody is always on the nest.

Somebody's always out to feed.

Now, once the breeding season is over and the chicks are fledged and on their own, everybody heads out to sea and they'll stay at sea for months at a time foraging and feeding.

And what calls them back is the breeding season or the need to molt and come back and stay on land while they replace their feathers.

(upbeat music) Penguins are adapted for a life in a cold weather environment.

They have very high density feathers that overlap like shingles on a roof.

The pink, the feather overlap is what keeps them warm in the cold environment that they live in and the frigid waters that they frequently swim in, by keeping the water away from their skin, so they don't suffer a lot of heat loss.

It's like us wearing a jacket basically.

But they're really designed for a life in the water.

The short feathers, the waterproofing, the blubber, everything about their body conditioning and shape is designed for a life at sea.