Watch What Happens When A Confused Penguin Hops Away With The Wrong Group

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A confused penguin on the Falkland Islands walked away with the wrong group (Credit: YouTube screen capture)

If you think all penguins look alike, you are not the only one. A hilarious video, captured by Andrea Barlow, director of the Falkland Islands Museum and National Trust, reveals that the aquatic, flightless birds sometimes also have a hard time distinguishing between one another.

The recently-released footage, taken on the Falkland Islands — a remote archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean — shows two groups of rockhopper penguins crossing paths and engaging in a short, amicable conversation. According to Barlow, the colony of about twelve penguins on the left was returning from sea, while the joyfully skipping birds on the right were heading out to the water, probably in search of a yummy meal. However, as the two groups disperse and continue towards their respective destinations, a member of the right colony is seen hopping away with the other group. Fortunately, a buddy realized it was missing and rushed back to retrieve the confused bird.

A rockhopper penguin with chicks on the Falkland Islands (Credit: Andrew Shiva / CC-BY-SA-2.0/ Wikipedia.org)

Endemic to the islands north of Antarctica, from Chile to New Zealand, rockhopper penguins are the world's smallest penguins. The aquatic birds, which stand about 20 inches (1.6 feet) tall, sport a distinct crest of spiky yellow and black feathers on their heads, blood-red eyes, a red-orange beak, and pink webbed feet. Rockhopper penguins were once found in large numbers, especially on the Falkland Islands. However, commercial overfishing, pollution, and other factors, such as oil spills, have reduced their population by as much as 30 percent over the past two decades.

Resources: Dailymail.co.uk, Huffpost.com, Wikidpedia.org, nationalgeographic.com.

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356 Comments
  • z037
    z037almost 4 years
    imagine all humans looking alike and needing a friend or family member to keep you in the right family or group? sounds scary. Animals have such different lives than other animals, and yes, humans are mammals witch is a category of animal.
    • sokeefe_forever
      sokeefe_foreveralmost 4 years
      Awww! Penguin are so cute! And also, shoutout time!!! Shoutout to @teagytornado101 @zaks and @howls! Go follow them, they're really cool people!
      • pro1234984
        pro1234984almost 4 years
        OMG! SO CUTE!!
        • happy-emma
          happy-emmaalmost 4 years
          I cant stop laughing how bout' you? ;D
          • animereina2021
            animereina2021almost 4 years
            Awwww, it's so funny that the fact penguins can't even tell which is which😂
            • garfieldfluffjr
              garfieldfluffjralmost 4 years
              Its so cute that the penguin hops to the other group to retrieve the penguin that went in the wrong group. Also there was that other penguin who didn't even interact with any of the penguins who just seems lost on the side.
            • oofinqurinteen
              oofinqurinteenalmost 4 years
              SO CUTE!!
              • astromili
                astromilialmost 4 years
                Adorable :D
                • astromili
                  astromilialmost 4 years
                  Awwwww 🥺
                  • nfweaves_9
                    nfweaves_9almost 4 years
                    Gotta love the Penguins! LOL so CUTE!! :)