Australia - a land of diverse and often extreme habitats.
From wild open country...
to deep forests...
..to grassy plains.
(Caws)
Its vast expanses have produced an immense array of birdlife...
..and many species found nowhere else in the world.
Waddling over the beaches of southern Australia
is one of the country's most comical and charming creatures -
the penguin.
And this is the most delightful of them all -
the little or fairy penguin.
These are flightless, flippered birds
who create some of the noisiest neighborhoods in nature.
(Chorus of cooing)
Theirs is a family saga of faithful relationships,
committed homemaking
and vigorous nightlife.
This is the story of the Little Penguin.
Phillip Island.
An area of 40 square miles
just off the coast of south Australia,
not far from the large city of Melbourne.
The waters of the Bass Strait beat the shores of this idyllic spot,
bringing a source of rich nutrients and marine life.
It's good fishing here
and it's an ideal home for many birds -
the pied cormorant...
..the tern...
..and the oystercatcher.
All thrive in this island seclusion.
Along these breezy, wave-brushed shores
there's also a different kind of bird.
But this one flies through water rather than air.
The little or fairy penguin,
smallest of all the penguins.
With an average height of 13 inches,
and weighing around three pounds,
these silver-eyed little penguins are small but perfectly formed.
A colony of up to 32,000 breeding pairs
make their burrows on this small island
in an area protected by government conservationists.
(Squeaking and hooting)
Little penguins are diurnal.
They spend most of their days fishing out at sea
in the cool waters off the Bass Strait,
and only return to land at nightfall.
They can stay out at sea for months at a time.
But this penguin we've named Harry
has just returned to the colony to wait for his mate.
It's July - winter in Australia -
and the start of penguin breeding season.
(Low braying)
Harry's just one of the thousands of penguins
which make their burrows in the dunes
around Summerlands Beach, known as Penguin Parade.
It's here that they'll rest, breed, lay their eggs
and raise chicks.
Their burrows can be rocky shelters...
..or tunnels the penguins dig to build nests
under the dense vegetation.
These burrows have been here for many generations,
with penguins returning to the same colony
to breed year after year.
At this time, many penguins who've been away at sea for months
come back to the colony to nest.
The males often return first
to get started on burrow renovations.
Harry's got some burrow maintenance to do...
..so he can have things ready for when his mate, Sally, shows up.
Sally may still be far away.
Little penguins can travel up to 30 miles a day.
Little penguins are suited to life on the ocean wave.
To move through water, 37 times denser than air,
their wings have adapted to become strong muscled flippers.
Little penguins use their pectoral muscles to flap,
generating forward thrust on both the up and down stroke.
This gives the impression that they're flying underwater.
But time at sea is fraught with potential dangers
for these tiny birds.
Somewhere out here is Sally.
Although her blue-black feathers serve as camouflage
while moving through water,
she can easily be a prey item for larger birds.
A white-bellied sea eagle can pick her off the water.
She also has to contend with sharks, seals and sea lions
that patrol the waters around southern Australia.
Her white underbelly blends with the light
when viewed from below,
helping to obscure her from would-be predators.
This little penguin is one of many that didn't make it.
It's estimated that up to 20% die at sea each year.
He may have been attacked by a predator
or got caught up in fishing lines,
an all-too-common occurrence.
Oil spills can also kill many penguins.
But little penguins don't only have to contend with marine threats.
As soon as they return to land, feral dogs and cats,
foxes and even snakes can attack.
So they wait to return to shore
under the cover of darkness
when it's safest to come up the beach.
As night falls at Summerlands Beach,
one by one, little figures quietly emerge from the waves.
They prefer to return to the same landing site each time.
But so do their enemies, the gulls.
The gulls might not be predators,
but they are incredible scavengers.
They'll try to scare the penguins into dropping morsels of fish
caught whilst at sea.
The gulls gather on the shore in large numbers...
..and place themselves between the penguins and their homes.
Each night, gangs of gulls patrol the beach like thugs
picking on the little guys,
hoping to menace the penguins into giving up their dinner.
So the little guys have their own strategy for avoiding trouble -
safety in numbers.
While out at sea, they call to each other,
trying to muster as large a group as possible,
called a raft.
But still they have to get their courage up,
and it can take a long time.
Once they have a big enough gang,
they can muscle their way through the barrage
of intimidating gulls
and form a protective block.
The first group makes it to safety.
The next batch gathers, getting ready to run the gauntlet.
But then one member of the group loses his nerve...
..and the others scurry back into the water.
They marshal their forces and try again.
This time there's strength in numbers.
Waddling awkwardly on their hind legs
can give the penguins' movement a comedic look.
But research shows the waddle is the most effective way
for them to move on land,
as it raises their center of mass
and allows them to swing their bodies forward.
This plucky penguin is not going to be bullied.
He heads back down the beach
to try and shepherd other penguins in.
But they hurry past him and the gulls close in.
Suddenly he's surrounded.
As another batch makes it up the beach, he's left alone.
He goes back to the relative safety of the water,
and waits for others to join him.
But no one comes.
The only thing he can do is make a run for it.
Keeping his body low as a less conspicuous target,
he runs as fast as his little legs can carry him
towards the protective vegetation around the sand dunes.
Once they're up from the beach,
the penguins use the narrow pathways through the vegetation
to make their way back to their burrows,
calling to each other in greeting as they go.
(Trilling and cooing)
Harry waits eagerly for his mate.
And there she is!
Sally's made it back to the beach safely,
just one of many searching for friends and family.
(Trilling and calling)
She could have as far as half a mile to travel
along these labyrinthine tracks to get to her burrow,
where she hopes Harry will be waiting.
(Exchange of calls)
As well as calling,
Sally looks for landmarks to guide her.
It's most likely she uses visual cues to navigate,
but it's unknown exactly how a little penguin's internal mapping system works.
Finding a way through a maze of pathways
seems harder for some than for others.
(Calls exchanged)
At this time of year,
with so many penguins coming home for breeding season,
the colony is alive with chatter.
(Noisy trilling)
Penguins en masse can be extremely noisy.
They love to socialize
and have up to nine different calls ranging from short barks
and sharp, snorting yelps when they're angry or disturbed.
(Mewls)
(Trills)
While penguins will swap burrows during the year,
at breeding time they like to return to their old nests,
as well as their old mates.
Sally has found Harry, and they are finally reunited.
Little penguins have a high rate of mate fidelity
and may stay together for life,
especially if they're successful breeders.
But they don't stay together out at sea,
and there's no guarantee that couples like Harry and Sally
will both make it back safely year after year.
This male is renovating last year's burrow,
using his powerful feet to dig.
He wants to make sure everything's perfect
for his mate upon her return.
But it looks like he's left waiting.
His partner hasn't appeared.
She may have died at sea or been taken by a predator.
Sometimes a male is unwilling to wait too long for his old mate.
If he wants to have a chance of breeding this year,
he'll have to attract another female.
But for now he stays faithful, and waits.
Little penguins prefer to swim in water temperatures
no warmer than 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
So they only live along the southern coastline of Australia
and among the islands of New Zealand,
where the seas are cooler.
They also often choose to nest on offshore islands,
where there are fewer land-based predators.
So the island of Tasmania,
the most southerly state in Australia,
should be perfect little penguin habitat.
There are fewer introduced species such as foxes to predate them here.
But even in this idyllic location,
the penguin population is threatened.
Growing numbers of penguin-loving tourists
can easily disturb their nests,
and an increase in feral cats and dogs has affected their breeding numbers.
On a beach not far from the state capital Hobart,
conservationists are attempting to reverse this decline.
There's a tiny colony here made up of several breeding pairs,
living in specially created burrows.
The beach is kept free of dogs and feral cats
in order to make a safe haven for the birds,
and humans are discouraged from getting too close.
The little penguins seem happy to adapt to life in the igloos
placed on the hillside for them to breed in.
This penguin has opted to spend the day resting in a drain pipe,
which provides cave-like protection from the sun.
Conservationists are hopeful that without intrusion
the penguins will be able to lay eggs
and increase their numbers this year.
Meanwhile the population of little penguins on Phillip Island
is now well protected from intruders.
From the 1940s,
over-enthusiastic visitors trampling on burrows,
and a surge in cats and dogs,
led to the penguins becoming endangered.
So during the 1980s, the government took radical steps.
They introduced a penguin protection plan.
Then repossessed the land
and demolished housing around Summerlands Beach.
Since then, the landscape has been transformed
and the penguin numbers have soared.
The penguin population here is the largest in Australia.
Breeding pairs like Harry and Sally
can safely spend time together here.
The pair has most likely had no contact during their time at sea,
but now, as breeding season begins again,
it's important for them to re-establish their special bond.
They groom and preen each other.
It helps them get rid of parasites they can't reach themselves,
and reinforces their bond.
Little penguins are meticulous with their preening,
which is essential for feather maintenance.
They have around 10,000 feathers,
three times more than many flying birds,
which insulate them against chilly water.
The base of each feather is soft and downy,
trapping air and providing insulation under water,
while the tip is stiffer to prevent it being squashed
by the water pressure.
The penguins constantly push their beaks through the feathers
to keep them coated with waterproof oil,
which is secreted by a gland at the base of their spines.
And mutual grooming is not only limited to partners.
As Harry and Sally clean themselves up,
other penguins step in to help with those hard-to-reach places
in a social ritual known as allopreening.
As the sun sets, Harry and Sally begin a night-time serenade.
(Purring and cooing)
They start their wooing by calling,
and then join in with each other's song.
(Mimicking each other's call)
And then...they dance...
..waggle their flippers...
..dip their beaks...
...stamp on the spot and circle around.
It's all part of their courtship.
Noisy breeding couples up and down the colony follow suit.
(Cooing)
(Mewling)
This song and dance is a prelude
to the most important act of bond reinforcement - mating.
For many animals, copulation is the work of seconds,
but the little penguins get intimate for over two minutes.
And they'll do this up to 30 times a night!
Afterwards, Sally disappears into the burrow,
while Harry stands guard outside.
He'll do this to ward off other males
who may want to steal his mate.
But while some partners are getting reacquainted,
others are left waiting.
The single male penguin's mate hasn't appeared.
He now faces a choice.
If he wants to breed this year, he either needs to find a female penguin
who's lost her partner...
..or try to persuade an already paired-up female to leave her mate.
This does sometimes happen.
There's a separation rate
between living partners of around 15%.
Come nightfall, he's out looking for love.
He tries his luck at a few burrows,
but he has to be careful.
Other males will defend their nests against would-be intruders.
(Mewls)
(Mewling and cooing)
(Mewls)
(Exchange of calls)
(Yelps)
Wherever he goes, he can't seem to find a warm welcome.
But he keeps going.
He tries Harry and Sally's burrow.
But Harry stands guard.
Things quickly escalate.
(Braying)
Harry brays angrily at the visitor,
and waves his flippers to tell him to go.
(Brays)
The single male has to take a walk.
The next night, Harry's busy.
He pops out of his burrow in search of more nesting material.
Over the days that follow mating,
the couple collects material together,
including grasses and bits of seaweed
to line the sides and bottom of the nest.
They need to select the right bits of vegetation,
and can be picky.
All over the colony,
other little penguins work on their nests too.
In Tasmania, the little penguin colony is growing.
They've dragged twigs and vegetation
inside their man-made burrows.
And the conservation strategy is showing signs of paying off.
This female has just produced a perfect clutch.
It's roughly two weeks after mating
and she now has two eggs, which were laid two days apart.
Now the hard work begins.
The male and female will take turns to incubate the eggs.
One will stay on the nest for up to ten days at a time,
while the other parent forages for both of them out at sea.
Little penguins spend their time in the water
trawling for small fish
such as anchovies, pilchards and sprats
in a series of shallow dives.
They're well adapted for marine life.
Their webbed feet, which give them good grip on uneven rocky land,
also help them to steer in the water.
Like some fish, little penguins' eyes have flattened corneas
so they can see clearly both under and above water.
And they have excellent night vision.
And the penguins have a neat way of getting rid of
any excess salt from the seawater,
which could be harmful to their health.
They have supraorbital glands above their eyes
which sieve out any salty water they've ingested
before it gets into their bloodstream,
so it's safely excreted as brine
to trickle down their beaks.
The foraging penguin needs to find enough food for two
which it will then regurgitate for the waiting partner.
It's a stressful period.
With all the risks of life out at sea,
there's always a chance that one partner may not make it back.
If this happens, the eggs may be abandoned.
Back on Phillip Island, it's August,
and Harry and Sally are also set to be parents.
Sally's laid two eggs.
She and Harry share sitting duty.
There's no guarantee that both eggs will hatch.
The success rate for hatching is only about 60%.
They have more than a month
to wait and see if both their chicks will emerge.
As hatching time draws near,
the couple need to time their foraging trips
extremely carefully.
If the eggs hatch while one parent is away fishing,
the clock starts running on the chicks' survival straightaway.
Penguins can spend several days at a time
looking for food at sea.
But if the hatchlings aren't fed within three days of emerging,
they'll starve to death.
So the foraging parent must return within a tight timeframe.
36 days later, there's activity in Harry and Sally's burrow.
(Twittering)
From the noise level, it seems both chicks have made it,
but their parents keep them hidden from view.
This early stage is known as the guard period.
While one parent stays to keep the chicks warm,
the other fishes.
While Sally keeps watch,
Harry scurries off to get some food.
(Chattering)
Elsewhere in the colony, other baby penguins are starting to emerge
from their burrows to take a first look at the world.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the colony,
the would-be Casanova has had a stroke of luck.
After his long search, he's found a female of his own.
The pair has settled down in a burrow
and already has a couple of hungry chicks.
(Twittering)
After five weeks of being cared for in their burrow,
Harry and Sally's two chicks finally emerge.
They have soft downy feathers
that aren't yet waterproof enough for them to swim.
They may waddle around a bit,
but they are still entirely dependent on their parents for providing food.
And the bigger the chicks, the more food they need.
There's no time for baby-sitting.
This level of feeding requires both parents
to be out at sea full-time.
They leave the chicks alone to wait for the next meal.
With the hungry chicks needing food,
it's even more important that the parents make it
past the sea predators and the gulls
to transport their cargo of fish home.
Waiting alone at the nest,
Harry and Sally's chicks are hungry and getting impatient.
They keep a constant eye out for the arrival of their parents.
Finally Sally arrives at the beach alone.
She doesn't have time to wait for the safety of the raft
and strikes out on her own across the beach,
a potentially risky strategy.
She appears exhausted after a long day's fishing
and can barely make it up the bank.
The chicks are becoming increasingly agitated.
(Twittering)
They call to their mother.
As she appears...
..they pounce on her in excitement.
(Excited chattering)
The baby penguins harass their mum
to produce the goods by tickling her throat
to stimulate regurgitation.
Sally needs to take a break.
Little penguins sporadically sleep in short bursts
of around four minutes, known as micro-sleeps.
They can even do this while at sea,
floating on the surface of the ocean.
Once the chicks are fed, she can grab a few minutes' rest.
However wearing it is for Harry and Sally,
they need to ensure that their chicks are as strong as possible
by the time they leave the burrow.
As they begin to make their own way in the world,
the youngsters will be at their most vulnerable.
Only 15% of hatchlings survive their first two years.
Many are eaten by predators.
But if their parents can't keep up the feeding,
starvation can also kill them.
Their chance of survival in their first year
correlates with their body weight.
The bigger they are,
the lower their mortality rates
while learning to fish at sea.
After eight to ten weeks,
the chicks will be as big as their parents,
and they'll have to learn to fend for themselves.
As soon as they have their waterproof feathers,
they'll be out on their own.
The chicks are getting older,
and it's time for Sally to nudge them towards independence.
(Calls)
This time, when she brings them their food,
she doesn't approach the chicks too closely.
Instead she stands a little way off.
They must come to her.
By encouraging the chicks to walk further,
they'll grow a little bit stronger every day.
While little penguins face numerous hazards
in raising their young, they have a secret weapon.
Unlike most penguin species,
a breeding pair of little penguins can raise more than one family a year.
Once the first lot of chicks have gone,
if it's early enough in the season
and food is still plentiful,
they can go on to breed again
and raise a second set of chicks.
It's February, and Sally and Harry's chicks have departed.
Now it's the parents' turn to head out to sea.
They'll only have a few months to restore lost strength
and fatten up in time for breeding again.
Whether swimming in the cool ocean seas...
..or battling up the beach at sundown...
..or living in a drainpipe...
..little penguins are vocal, sociable and determined.
Skilled fishers,
noisy singers...
(Cooing)
(Twittering)
..and devoted parents.
They're a charming feature of coastal life
on the shores of south Australia.
♪♪