The black and white bird came ashore on a beach in the south of the North Island nearly 4,000 miles away from its usual habitat. The creature's astonishing journey was witnessed by a woman walking her dog as the two-foot bird waddled out of the water in front of her. She said, "It was out of this world to see it. It was this glistening white thing standing up on the sand and I thought I was seeing things." The tale of the lost penguin is similar to the 2006 children's film Happy Feet, in which a young penguin finds himself far from home during a voyage of discovery. Conservationists believe it has completed an incredible journey for such a young bird -- it is estimated to be around 10 months old. The most likely explanation for its appearance in New Zealand is the hunt for food. Experts said it may also have rested on an ice floe   during its travels and was carried north for a great distance before it made a swim for dry land. Colin Miskelly, a curator of New Zealand Museum, said, "They can spend months at a time in the ocean and come ashore only to moult (,)or rest." Mr. Miskelly said the brave bird would have to find its way back south soon if it was going to survive. He said, "It is probably hot and thirsty and has been eating wet sand." "It doesn't realize that the sand isn't going to melt inside it because they typically eat snow -- their only liquid." -- it can inflict   painful bites if threatened. Conservationists tend to explain that   _   .
the young bird has completed a pleasant journey of 4,000 thousand miles the young bird's appearance in New Zealand is due to its hunt for food and delay of returning the young bird comes ashore in New Zealand only to moult or rest during its voyage the young bird is certain to be over 10 months old when it appears on a beach