Burnie Penguin Observation Centre

Little penguins nest and moult in coastal areas, and it’s common to see them crossing roads between the shoreline and their nesting sites. This is particularly the case in areas where the road is very close to the beach.

At the moment, we’re seeing another increase in penguin activity and have been receiving calls from concerned members of the public noticing them crossing roads or seeing them in the vegetation beside the road. It’s always encouraging to see people looking out for local wildlife, and we’re very glad to see people taking an interest in keeping penguins safe.

Little penguins can naturally travel up to 1 km inland in search of suitable shelter, burrows, and nesting sites. Vegetated areas near roads often provide important habitat and safe places for nesting.

While it can be concerning to see penguins crossing roads, it’s important that they’re able to move freely between the coast and their nesting areas without unnecessary interference. Penguins crossing roads after dusk is a normal part of their behaviour and is not usually a cause for alarm.

Drivers can help protect them by slowing down, especially between dusk and dawn, and staying alert in coastal areas where penguins may be present. Penguins do have some awareness of traffic, but they’re no match for a moving car.

If you’re nearby, there are a few things to keep an eye out for:
• Penguins out in the open during the daytime
• Penguins with obvious injuries
• Penguins approaching humans

If you notice any of the above, please call us. If we are handling birds, we may not be able to answer the phone immediately, so please leave us a message.

Our guiding season is nearly over so if you’d like to see our Little Penguins now is a great time to🐧 😊 Our volunteers will be at our Observation Centre from 7pm (6pm once daylight saving starts) every evening over the Easter long weekend.

From Wednesday 8th April our volunteers will be taking a much deserved break from guiding until October.

Our volunteers are present every night from now until Easter Tuesday 🐣
Aim to arrive just before sunset (about 745pm)

This time of year, our team receives an annual spike in reports of deceased and injured individual penguins across the state.

This is not unusual and is typically associated with juvenile penguins not fledging successfully.

However, it is a timely reminder to consider ways to minimise our impacts on little penguin populations. A good starting point is to familiarise yourself with the Penguin Watching Guidelines in place to protect penguins and allow visitors to see them under natural conditions. For more information, check out our website: https://nre.tas.gov.au/wildlife-management/penguin-watching-guidelines

Penguins are protected wildlife, and it is illegal to catch, attempt to catch or harass penguins.

📷 Peviz Marker

Happy Penguin Awareness Day! Our volunteers are on-site from 820pm to answer all your Little Penguin related questions 🐧

Now is a wonderful time to visit our Little Penguins with lots of chicks about in the rookery!

Photo 1 shows two fledgling chicks about 7 weeks old with their beautiful blue adult feathers (fun fact Little Penguins are the only species of penguins with blue not black feathers 🐧)

Photo 2 is from our livestream with a group of month old chicks. Little Penguins normally have 2 chicks at a time so 2 of these chicks live in this burrow and 2 are just visiting their friends 🐧

If you’d like to see our penguins for yourself, our volunteers give a nightly talk around 830pm with the penguin viewing beginning just after dark.

Happy New Year. Here's to health, happiness and peaceful times in 2026.
The first photo was taken at about 9.45pm facing the Burnie Athletics Carnival while at the same time there was another at the wharf reflected in the first window on the left.
The other two were of the penguins at midnight, one flapping its flippers and others just resting!
Some penguins did retreat to their burrows during the fireworks (just like a thunderstorm) and came right back out afterwards 🙂.

The pathway won’t be this empty tonight 😁 Our volunteer guides are there tonight and every night throughout the summer. (From 830pm onwards 🐧)

Our penguins are popular, but on 28 December we set a new record for attendance for this season!
There were 300 visitors, including residents and crew from a ship called The World in port overnight, and many other visitors as well, crowding the path from our viewing centre all the way to the boardwalk behind the beach.
The final count for the night was 57 birds coming out of the water, 22 chicks and a total of 60 adult birds on land.
That meant everyone got to see some penguin activity, and ask questions of the 8 volunteer guides present!