This article was originally written by Caitlin James at SWNS — the U.K.’s largest independent news agency, providing globally relevant original, verified, and engaging content to the world’s leading media outlets.
Baby penguins getting their nails did is inherently adorable, but at Blackpool Zoo in England, where these pedicures are taking place, they also serve a purpose: preventing keepers from mixing the chicks up.
One chick from each pair in a nest box has had its toenails painted with blue nail polish, so the baby birds’ health checks, weights, and developmental progress can be accurately recorded.
Known for their fast swimming and strong flippers, Magellanic penguins are native to Argentina and Chile. The 10 males and 13 females at the Lancashire zoo are the only ones of their kind in the U.K., and they’re now enjoying their newly expanded Penguin Cove habitat.
In 2023, the zoo began making over $130,000 worth of improvements to the habitat, which included adding more nest boxes, a beach eight times larger than the previous version, and a net over the entire area to help protect the penguins from contracting bird flu.
“This investment will make a real difference for the residents, the staff, and our many penguin super fans, and there is plenty of room for the colony to grow, which is great as they are a real zoo favorite,” Luke Forster, a deputy team manager who oversaw the project, said in a press release at the time. “We’re hoping the additional nest boxes will lead to lots of fluffy little new arrivals.”
Fast forward to present day, and that hope has come to fruition. “We’re delighted to have welcomed lots of new chicks to Penguin Cove,” senior keeper Jason Keller said in a statement. “As they grow it’s easy to confuse them, especially with multiple chicks in some nest boxes and markings that are very similar. Painting the toenails of one from each nest box containing two chicks with blue varnish means we can be sure we are recording all their information correctly.”
The sexes of the chicks are currently unknown, but as they begin to venture outside of their nests in the coming weeks, keepers will send feather samples to a specialist lab for identification. Once that info is confirmed, the little ones will be named and have their ID bands fitted.
The chicks are then expected to begin learning how to swim in the pool, and will continue to be fed regurgitated fish by both parents until they are old enough to eat independently. Keller added: “We’re looking forward to watching the chicks grow over the summer. It is always wonderful to see them getting braver and exploring more every day.”
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