Oct 28, 2021, 12:00 AM
Opal and Inti Join the Colony at Penguin Coast
When you visit Penguin Coast, keep an eye out for our two newest additions to the Humboldt penguin colony, our 2021 chicks Opal and Inti.
Female chick Opal hatched on February 4 and male chick Inti hatched on March 19. The zoo held online voting to choose the names for both chicks.
After being raised by their penguin parents – or, in Opal’s case, foster parents – the chicks received indoor swimming practice supervised by our penguin care team and learned to be hand-fed by zookeepers who keep close track of the eating habits of every bird in the 27-member colony.
Opal and Inti joined the colony on exhibit this summer and love swimming and diving in the big pool at Penguin Coast. They both have juvenile markings, so look for the birds with all-white chests. (They won’t gain the black arcing stripe across their chests until their first molt next year.) You can tell them apart because male penguins wear their ID bracelet on their right wing, females on the left. Opal and Inti’s bands are yellow.