The head and upper parts are blue in colour, with slate-grey ear coverts fading to white underneath, from the chin to the belly.

The dark grey-black beak is 3–4 cm long, the irises pale silvery- or bluish-grey or hazel, and the feet pink above with black soles and webbing.

The decline is believed to be mainly due to loss of suitable habitat, attacks by foxes and dogs and disturbance at nesting sites.

[19] A report released in 2011 presented evidence supporting the listing of the statewide population or the more closely monitored sub-population from Gulf St. Vincent as Vulnerable under South Australia's National Parks & Wildlife Act 1972.

In July 1991, National Parks & Wildlife Service South Australia estimated the Encounter Bay area (which includes Granite, West and Wright Islands) population of little penguins to total 7,000 birds.

[22] A general population count conducted in early December 1991 found 571 penguins on Granite Island, and a total of 2600 in the Encounter Bay area.

[38] Little penguin habitats also exist at a number of other locations, including London Bridge and The Twelve Apostles along the Great Ocean Road, Wilsons Promontory, and Gabo Island.

[11] While the main range of this penguin is in Australia, at least one population of Eudyptula novaehollandiae exists in Otago, which is located on the east coast of New Zealand's South Island.

Using ancient-DNA analysis and radiocarbon dating using historical, pre-human, as well as archaeological Eudyptula remains, the arrival of the Australian species in New Zealand was determined to have occurred roughly between AD 1500 and 1900.

The decrease of E. minor was most likely due to anthropogenic effects, such as being hunted by humans as well as introduced predators,[46] including dogs brought from overseas.

It has been determined that the population of Eudyptula novaehollandiae in Otago arrived even more recently than previously estimated due to multilocus coalescent analyses.

[53] Little penguins feed by hunting small clupeoid fish, cephalopods, and crustaceans, for which they travel and dive quite extensively[54][55] including to the sea floor.

[53] In New Zealand, important little penguin prey items include arrow squid, slender sprat, Graham's gudgeon, red cod, and ahuru.

[57] Jellyfish including species in the genera Chrysaora and Cyanea were found to be actively sought-out food items, while they previously had been thought to be only accidentally ingested.

Over time attitudes towards penguins have evolved from direct exploitation (for meat, skins, and eggs) to the development of tourism ventures, conservation management and the protection of both birds and their habitat.

During the 19th and 20th centuries, Australian little penguins were shot for sport, killed for their skins, captured for amusement and eaten by ship-wrecked sailors and castaways to avoid starvation.

Continue to rub this on at intervals until the skin becomes soft and pliable.An Australian taxidermist was once commissioned to make a woman's hat for a cocktail party from the remains of a dead little penguin.

The sites of some breeding colonies have become carefully managed tourist destinations which provide an economic boost for coastal and island communities in Australia and New Zealand.

These locations also often provide facilities and volunteer staff to support population surveys, habitat improvement works and little penguin research programs.

[90] Granite Island at Victor Harbor, South Australia continues to offer guided tours at dusk, despite its colony dropping from thousands in the 1990s to dozens in 2014.

[53] Introduced mammalian predators present the greatest terrestrial risk to little penguins and include cats, dogs, rats, foxes, ferrets, and stoats.

[113] Paw prints at an attack site at Freeman's Knob, Encounter Bay, South Australia showed that the dog responsible was small, roughly the size of a terrier.

[125] The impacts of human habitation in proximity to little penguin colonies include collisions with vehicles,[126] direct harassment, burning and clearing of vegetation and housing development.

[95] In 1950, roughly a hundred little penguins were allegedly burned to death near The Nobbies at Port Phillip Bay during a grass fire lit intentionally by a grazier for land management purposes.

[157][158] Victoria's coastline has been subjected to chronic oil contamination from minor discharges or spills which have impacted little penguins at several colonies.

[184][185] In December 2015, the BBC reported, "The current dogs patrolling Middle Island are Eudy and Tula, named after the scientific term for the fairy penguin: Eudyptula.

[190] Several efforts have been made to improve breeding sites on Kangaroo Island, including augmenting habitat with artificial burrows and revegetation work.

[191] Weed control undertaken by the Friends of Five Islands in New South Wales helps improve prospects of breeding success for seabirds, including the little penguin.

When animals are first received at Phillip Island's rehabilitation facility, a knitted penguin sweater, made to a specific pattern, is applied to the bird.

[212] Linus Torvalds, the original creator of Linux (a popular operating system kernel), was once pecked by an Australian little penguin while on holiday in Australia.