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What a classy bird.

Wickerbottom

Pengulls are neutral Mobs. Pengulls will appear on shores in packs of around 7 to begin with in winter. The colony size will continually grow until towards the end of Winter . They spawn in the Ocean and jump onto the shore. 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 upon death. 

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").

Behaviour

Pengulls emerge from the oceans and wander aimlessly. You know when they come when you hear their quacks, or see their symbol on the map. They produce variable-sized Manure, with the smallest around a quarter of the size of regular Manure (produced by Beefalo, Koalefants, and Pigs.), yet all sizes are counted as regular Manure and not separate items. Pengulls will slide away from the player when passive, but when attacked, they will attack the player and any aggressive mob face-on. The entire pack, within range, will surround their foe and attack by pecking and jumping. They pursue by sliding on their stomachs (see below).

Once they reach their breeding ground, Pengulls will occasionally lay Eggs, which they will hide if the player moves closer to them. Should they be 'hiding' an Egg from the player, Pengulls will drop this Egg upon death. The Eggs do not hatch into a Pengull; instead, they either rot on the floor or rot while being hidden by a Pengull. A Pengull that has held onto an Egg until it rots will drop the Rotten Egg on the ground and ignore it. This means Rotten Eggs can be obtained without a Birdcage. Occasionally, they will leave the egg when it's stale, allowing it to be eaten. It's safe to pick up a Pengull's egg if the player goes near and it doesn't hide its egg, or when the Pengull is asleep.

Should anyone venture too close near the end of their lives, a Pengull will sound the alarm, and nearby Pengulls will rush their target. During such an attack, Pengulls will pursue on their bellies a reasonable distance before issuing a final indignant squawk and slowly waddling back to their temporary home. Since their lifespan is similar to the perish time of their eggs, caution is best utilized after their eggs are stale and close to spoiling.

The nesting grounds of a group of Pengulls is visible as a patch of ice, which will appear when the corresponding flock of Pengulls comes to shore. These patches are marked on the map by a Pengull icon. When the birds come ashore, they will immediately migrate to that ice patch, and they will stay there for the duration of the winter. If there are walls on the ice, they will attack the walls.

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

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. Also, if a group is by a bunch of trees, you can try burning the trees as the pengulls may die from the heat. Note, however, that if they get too close to the flame, the items they drop upon death may catch fire and burn into ash. However the eggs are at this point in time 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 the Pengulls have settled in and eggs appear. It will be more likely to eliminate all the Pengulls if done at night when they are sleeping, but this requires running to the site wielding a torch for light.  Most likely Morsel and Meat drops will be converted to ash, but the eggs will survive intact. This yields approximately 8 to 10 eggs per breeding site. 

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, so don't leave your eggs out.
  • 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 one that does cannot be stepped on.

Bugs

  • Sometimes Pengulls won't hide their eggs, and the eggs can be collected without being attacked by the Pengulls.
  • Sometimes Pengulls will jump from the intersection of two turfs instead of the ocean.
  • Sometimes Pengulls will hide their eggs before they go to sleep so that the player is unable to harvest them at night.
  • There appears to be an audio bug wherein if the pengulls despawn for the spring while being on the screen, some ambience from their presence will remain and not stop, similar to the occasionally occurring bug with the music that plays with the approach of a Night Hand; however, the pengull sound bug does not appear to be fixed upon exiting the game. (To clarify, "some ambience," in this case, means the sound of walking and sliding around, though the squawks of the pengulls can no longer be heard.)
  • When fleeing from the player, a Pengull may glitch out of the land boundry and into the ocean.  A few seconds later, another whole flock of Pengulls will respawn.
  • Patches of ice that correspond to nesting grounds that previously spawned groups of pengulls have claimed will appear upon the return of winter, regardless of whether or not the corresponding group of pengulls comes to shore at any time that winter.
  • There may be a bug such that, after one to three winters, pengulls simply stop spawning at all.

Gallery

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