Pengull

"What a classy bird."

- Wickerbottom

Pengulls are neutral Mobs that appear on shores in packs of around 7 during Winter. The colony size will continually grow until the end of Winter. They spawn in the Ocean and jump onto the shore only if the player is nearby. Should the player attempt to attack a Pengull, the entire colony will slide on their bellies towards the player, surrounding them if they stay to fight, and pursuing the player if they flee. Pengulls deal 33 damage and may drop a Jet Feather, Morsel, or Drumstick.

Pengulls are considered innocent creatures, and killing one will add 2 naughtiness points, which can cause Krampus to appear.

Appearance
The Pengull appears to be a combination of a penguin and a seagull; they have the black-and-white body and upright stance of a penguin but the hooked beak of a gull. They have upturned heads, giving the impression of a sneer or disapproval. Pengulls have been described as "snooty", "fragile", and "dapper" (quote: "nice tux").

Behavior
Pengulls are noisy creatures that spawn from the ocean when the player is nearby, and walk directly to a randomly spawned "breeding ground", marked by a thin layer of ice, that will appear as soon as the flock spawns and is represented by a Pengull symbol on the map. Pengulls will slide away from the player when passive, but when attacked, they become aggressive. The entire pack, within range, will surround their foe and attack by pecking and jumping. They pursue their target by sliding on their bellies (see below).

Once they reach their breeding ground, Pengulls will occasionally lay Eggs, hiding them if the player gets too close. Upon death, this egg will be part of their loot. Pengull Eggs will usually rot. A Pengull that has held onto an Egg until it rots will drop the Rotten Egg on the ground and ignore it, allowing the player to obtain Rotten Eggs without having to use a Birdcage. Occasionally, they will leave the egg when it's stale, in which case it may be eaten. It's safe to pick up a Pengull's egg if the bird isn't hiding it, or while the Pengull is asleep. It can be beneficial to set up a base near a breeding ground in the adventure chapter, "The King of Winter," for an easy food source.

Near the end of their lives (approximately 3 days before the end of winter), Pengulls become aggressive and will sound an alarm when threatened, calling all nearby Pengulls to attack the target. The Pengulls will give chase on their bellies for a reasonable distance before issuing a final indignant squawk and slowly waddling back to their temporary home. Surprisingly, this defense mechanism isn't reserved only for living threats, as they will display this behavior against a wall if it's within range. Since their lifespan is similar to the perish time of their eggs, caution is best kept after their eggs are stale and close to spoiling. When their natural life is over, Pengulls despawn as though killed, and will leave drops such as morsels, drumsticks, jet feathers, and eggs.

As mentioned above, the Pengulls nesting ground is visible as a patch of ice, which will appear when the flock jumps on shore. These patches are marked on the map by a Pengull icon. Since there is no way to control where a Pengull breeding ground spawns, it is possible for the nesting ground to end up very near, or even at, the player's base. They will destroy any walls directly between them and their nesting ground as they migrate, though they only "pass through" other structures such as chests and fire pits. As they turn aggressive near the end of the winter, they can wreak havoc on player-built walls comparable to a grazing by the Deerclops. There is no way to avoid this, apart from staying away from the ocean entirely during the winter.

Pengulls will eat food left on the ground, including meat from their killed brethren, and even Hatching Tallbird Eggs. They will also eat planted Mandrakes.

Reign of Giants icon.png Reign of Giants
In the Reign of Giants DLC, whenever Pengulls spawn, numerous Mini Glaciers will appear near their breeding grounds. This makes Ice renewable and makes Rocks renewable without having to visit the Caves.

If any of the Mini Glaciers around a breeding ground is mined before Pengulls reach it, the group of Pengulls will not lay eggs, and the Pengull icon will disappear from world map.

Strategy
An effective way of obtaining drops from the Pengulls without being mobbed by the flock is to chase one away from the group until the Pengull calls can no longer be heard before attacking. Be warned, though. Returning to the flock, or any flock nearby, while the danger music is playing will cause the Pengulls to attack you. You can also move a Pengull away from its group while it is sleeping by pushing it with your character. If a group is by several trees, you can try igniting the trees to kill the Pengulls. Note that the items they drop upon death may catch fire and burn into ash, however eggs are currently fireproof.

A quick way to get plenty of Eggs in Winter is to plant 9 trees at each breeding site (indicated by the Pengull icon on the map) and light the trees once germinated and the Pengulls have settled in with their eggs. Most likely, feather drops will be converted to ash, but the eggs will survive intact and the morsels and drumsticks will become cooked. This yields approximately 8 to 10 eggs per breeding site. A more practical way is to plant 4 trees towards the middle of the breeding site. Although some Pengulls remain, a majority will be killed and more feathers survive the fire.

Another effective strategy requires gunpowder, by now you can acquire Rotten eggs either via a bird cage, or from the nesting grounds themselves (Recommended that you go at night to avoid possible Pengull aggression). Come to their nesting ground at night and plant the powder. One should be enough, you don't have to kill all of them but try to catch as many in the blast area as possible. The steps in this strategy are:
 * 1) Place Gunpowder amongst sleeping Pengulls ( You can push the gulls close together by walking into them.)
 * 2) Light Gunpowder with a Torch,
 * 3) Run a safe distance, you have a few seconds before the powder goes off.
 * 4) Pengulls close to the gunpowder will die, any others will quickly go back to sleep.
 * 5) Return to the now rather depleted nesting grounds. The Pengulls that did not die will still be asleep.
 * 6) Collect profit in the form of cooked meats, eggs and possible feathers/ash.

Pengulls respawn almost daily so this can be an effective strategy for so long as you have Nitre for making the powder. More can be claimed from rounded boulders or from Caves.

Another entertaining strategy to farm Pengulls, albeit mildly dangerous, is to find a Killer Bee Hive and wait for Pengulls to spawn nearby. Once a sizable amount have made their way to a close by location, prod the Killer Bees to chase you, then kite them over to the Pengulls. Get out of range of the bees and watch the carnage. This will get you Honey, a lot of Stingers, and plenty of Drumsticks, Jet Feathers, and Eggs. Plus, this can be done daily and repeatedly as the Bees will replenish in about a game day's time, as well as the Pengulls.

Below is the number of hits it takes with each weapon to kill Pengulls when playing with characters with a default damage modifier. The Weather Pain is not included due to the random nature of its projectile.

Trivia

 * The name "Pengull" is a portmanteau of "penguin" and "seagull".
 * Pengulls will also attempt to hide Eggs from caged birds if they are left on the ground, since both Eggs are identified as the same thing.
 * If starting the game in winter, the icy turf of the Pengull nesting grounds will not appear until day 6.
 * Ice sheets can run onto the ocean, but they cannot be stepped on or flown over.
 * Pengulls were originally called Penguins.
 * Currently, Pengulls do not produce Manure, although they originally produced Manure that was half the size of regular Manure, which became regular Manure once picked up.

Bugs

 * Sometimes Pengulls won't hide their eggs, and the eggs can be collected without being attacked by the Pengulls.
 * When fleeing from the player, a Pengull may glitch out of the land boundary and into the ocean. A few seconds later, another whole flock of Pengulls will respawn.
 * Sometimes Pengulls will leave their ice patch in the middle of winter, never to return.
 * If you go under a cave and come back, all the Pengull symbols on map disappears and breeding grounds.

Gallery
Pinguin Пинчайка Pingwin