Our nature photographer Jessica Moses has been capturing photos of the Humboldt penguins at Lotherton Hall, West Yorkshire and Sewerby Hall, East Yorkshire.

The Humboldt penguin originates from South America and live on the shores of Peru and chile. Its nearest relatives are the African penguin, the Magellanic penguin and the Galápagos penguin. Humboldt penguins are highly sociable, curios and communicative birds, some might say even the friendliest of the bunch.

Humboldt penguins form a strong bond and remain with the same partner for their entire lives. Before mating the animals undergo a moulting period, during which they do not go out to sea and have to starve. By the end of the moult, they venture into the sea to forage and then come back to their breeding grounds. Commonly 1-2 eggs are laid and incubated for an estimated 40 days. Both the male and female take turns to incubate their eggs.

Since 1988, The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed the penguins on its vulnerable list, and Humboldt hunting has been illegal since 1995. Scientists consider the Humboldt penguin to be vulnerable to extinction due to Natural climate variation, human-induced climate change and overfishing of their preferred prey species. There are only an estimated 2,500 - 12,000 left in the wild.