Watch: Baby penguins coming soon on new Aviary camera

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The baby penguin watch is on. And through a camera installed Wednesday at the Penguin Point exhibit at the National Aviary, the public can follow along.

The camera, which had been focused on flamingos, now peers into the nest of African penguin parents Bette and Sidney. They are taking turns sitting on two eggs in the nest inside a small cave that is part of Penguin Point. It is accessible at http://penguinnestcam.org/.

The eggs were laid Nov. 7 and 11, said Chris Gaus, senior aviculturist, and are expected to hatch between Dec. 14 and 22. When they do, the baby penguins will be about the size of a golf ball, covered in light gray fuzz. “They fit in the palm of the hand,” Mr. Gaus said.

This is the fourth time Bette and Sidney have procreated at the Aviary, located on the North Side, and each time have had two chicks. All of their six existing chicks are still living in the 20penguin colony at the Aviary, and the whole family was on view Thursday afternoon, diving through the water or shaking off their feathers on the rocks.

The Aviary used the same camera, which uses high-definition infrared technology and was donated and installed by M&P Security Solutions in 2015, the last time Bette and Sidney had chicks.

Bette and Sidney are the only penguins at the Aviary that have reproduced thus far, though the Aviary is trying to encourage other matches as well.

African penguins are classified as an endangered species, Mr. Gaus said, with fewer than 25,000 pairs remaining in the wild. Their population has been reduced through overfishing and global warming, he said, affecting the adults’ ability to take care of their chicks in the wild.

“This is another exciting hatch for a critically endangered species,” Mr. Gaus said. “Every chick counts when we’re trying to save this species.”