The fine pin-like feathers provide excellent waterproofing and insulation. Their fourteen neck vertebrae allow flexibility to preen the feathers with a wax like oil from a gland near the base of the tail. A Little Penguin s diet consists of anchovies, pilchards, whitebait and squid. Fishing excursions may be up to 200 kilometres, but most feeding is done within fifteen kilometres of their nesting site. Little Penguins usually fish within five metres of the surface, although they have been known to dive to sixty metres.
Breeding varies from year to year.
At Penguin Island in Western Australia courtship starts between February and April. Two eggs are laid between April and August though usually only one chick survives, depending on food availability. Penguins have an annual moult, which takes about fifteen days. During this time they are unable go to sea, because they have lost their waterproofing. This is a very stressful time for a penguin, during which they retire to their burrows or shelters and fast.