Editing Little penguin (section)

===Foraging behaviour===

[[file:Little Blue Penguins at the Arctic Research Centre Christchurch.jpg|thumb|Eudyptula minor foraging at the International Antarctic Centre in Christchurch]]

During the breeding season, ''Eudyptula minor'' are central place foragers. They travel within their home range to find food, but will return to their nest to feed both themselves and their chicks. Their foraging range is limited by how long chicks can fast, and the high energetic of costs of constant travelling for individuals.<ref>Berlincourt, M., Arnould,J. P., & Y. (2015). Influence of environmental conditions on foraging behaviour and its consequences on reproductive performance in little penguins. Marine Biology, 162(7), 1485-1501.</ref> This behaviour results in a small foraging range, and therefore a higher probability of competition when prey availability is more scarce.<ref name="Pelletier"/> Particularly , In order to survive ''Eudyptula minor'' adapt to these constraints by increasing the plasticity and variability in their foraging behaviour, such as spatial, age, or diet based segregation, during breeding season when energy demands for both parents and chicks are at their highest.<ref>Diet segregation between two colonies of little penguins Eudyptulaminor in southeast Australia. Austral Ecology, 37: 610-619.</ref> During chick rearing, parents will make on average one day long foraging trips within a 30&nbsp;km radius of their nest.<ref name="Pelletier"/>

Research conducted on the Philip Island colony found the spatial segregation of foraging behaviour was primarily determined by age rather than biological sex.<ref name="Pelletier"/> Middle aged individuals foraged at greater distances from their nests and were able to dive greater distances, whereas older penguins were found to forage closer to the shore than middle aged adults.<ref>(Zimmer, I., Ropert-Coudert, Y., Kato, A., Ancel, A., & Chiaradia, A. (2011). Does Foraging Performance Change with Age in Female Little Penguins (Eudyptula minor)? PLoS One, 6(1))</ref><ref name ="Pelletier"/>

When foraging in groups for small schooling prey, they were also observed to all be of a similar age cohort.<ref>Sutton, G. J., Hoskins, A. J., & Arnould, J. P. Y. (2015). Benefits of GroupForaging Depend on Prey Type in a Small Marine Predator, the Little Penguin. PLoS ONE, 10(12)</ref> If the groups are segregated by age, this is likely because they are at the same foraging ability and occupy the same approximate range.<ref name="Pelletier"/>