Yellow-eyed Penguin

New Zealand · penguins · ocean · endangered

Golden eyes glow. The yellow-eyed penguin gets its name from its bright yellow eyes, which shine like little golden lights. They're the only penguin species with this special eye color.

Only in New Zealand. This penguin lives nowhere else on Earth except New Zealand's coasts. Scientists call it endemic because it's found naturally in just one place.

Champion deep divers. Their scientific name Megadyptes means 'big diver,' and they can plunge deeper than most penguin cousins to hunt for fish and squid in the ocean.

Seriously endangered. There are only a few thousand yellow-eyed penguins left in the wild, making them one of the rarest penguin species in the whole world.

Night-time hunters. Unlike many penguins, these birds hunt mostly at night and come ashore after dark, making them shy and hard to spot.