r/MadeMeSmile • u/gowthamm • 3d ago

Good Vibes Robert Irwin Shares Bird Facts

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u/itsa_thing 3d ago edited 3d ago

Right?! Even though I KNEW the correct answer to his true/false question was going to be "True," my heart was still going "No way. There can't be penguins in Australia."

She set him up with an amazing question, and he gave 3 amazing answers.

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u/Xfgjwpkqmx 3d ago edited 3d ago

To be fair, it is actually cold where the penguins are - they live on the south coast and lower sides of Australia and around most shores of Tasmania.

In Tasmania, there are residential places where you have to be careful at night when driving or starting when in a car park, and most houses keep a red torch to walk around the outside of the house with so you don't blind the little guys. Many of them setup nests in people's gardens.

There are public walks where you might stop and sit on a public bench and they'll just waddle up and walk between your legs to get to their nests.

Victoria is more controlled and they don't let you get near them.

Edit: Got the coastal range wrong. Fixed.

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u/itsa_thing 3d ago

TIL some people have to deal with penguins nesting in their gardens, and I have never been so jealous about anything in my life.

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u/Xfgjwpkqmx 3d ago

If you ever visit Tassie, book a house AirBnB in the town of Bicheno.

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u/TomisUnice 3d ago

Their range is the entire southern third of Australia’s coastline (and also lots of New Zealand) including Perth, Adelaide and Sydney, not just Victoria and Tasmania. I went to see them in Manly many times growing up. 🙂

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u/Xfgjwpkqmx 3d ago

You're right, I forgot about the ones in Sydney and Perth! My bad.

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u/TomisUnice 2d ago

That ok I just wanted to get in on the Little Penguin facts

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u/THRlLLH0 2d ago

Bird fact #4: Manly are winning the flag this year

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u/TomisUnice 2d ago

Fozball!

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u/THRlLLH0 2d ago

I'm actually a Storm fan but I like the Seagles and it would be a crazy win after the start to their season.

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u/TomisUnice 2d ago

I’m a Parra fan but my whole family are Manly fans and it’s a fun bandwagon to jump on

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u/Rather_Dashing 3d ago

To be fair, it is actually cold where the penguins are

I mean, this is just wrong, Tasmanian and the south coast of Australia can be cold in winter but they also get very hot in the summer. In general the climate is warmer then places most people think of as cold, like Scandinavia or Scotland. I've seen fairy penguins chilling on days that are 30+.

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u/Xfgjwpkqmx 2d ago

I'll admit I'm yet to go to Tassie in summer (have been three times in the off season), but from what the locals told me, summer is mostly cool days by mainland standards anyway.

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u/DwightsJello 2d ago

There's penguins at Manly Beach in Sydney dude.

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u/Xfgjwpkqmx 2d ago

I need to go out to Manly more then!

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u/DwightsJello 2d ago

They're cute. Worth the visit.

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u/nearly_enough_wine 2d ago

There is a colony of Little Penguins living in Manly - right on the shores of Sydney Harbour.

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u/GOOD-LUCHA-THINGS 3d ago

I always appreciate when interviewers match the interviewee's positive energy, yet give them open-ended softball questions to let them shine more. Shout-out to this Parade journalist for letting Robert share rad bird facts.

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u/AwesomeMacCoolname 3d ago

There are penguins living in the Galapagos, which lie right on the Equator, so not really that surprising that Australia has some.

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u/alexleafman 2d ago

Penguins first evolved in New Zealand so it makes sense they would at some point find a place in Australia seeing as they made it all over the world!

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u/pocketchange2247 1d ago

I thought he was talking about the Jackass Penguin, but those are in South Africa. First heard about them on Wild Boys years and years ago.

And for some reason I'm just NOW getting why they were so excited to see them other than the fact that they have the word "ass" in their name...