Why are adolescent King Penguin chicks so brown and so ugly?

Birds typically have unified "boring" colors (greyish brownish) until they moult. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moulting#Birds Regarding the aesthetics judgement... read more

They are brown as chicks because their colouration will elicit parental behaviour from adults, so they are identified as infants, not competitors for nest sites or mates. read more

By John Clover, Penguin Fanatic. Disclaimer: I haven't hugged a penguin. I did get to go behind the scenes at Sea World, into the penguin enclosure. The penguin handler picked up several penguins, and I got to pet them; this is as close to a hug as I got. read more

King Penguin Aptenodytes patagonicus Introduction to King Penguin. Second in size only to the Emperor Penguin is the King Penguin. This is a species that many people are familiar with. They are often on display in captivity, seen in the movies, and used for pictures in books. read more