CELEBRATIONS are underway at Bourton's Birdland as a new king penguin chick is born.

The tiny chick finally hatched out of its palm-sized egg after an anxious two-month incubation. Keepers at the Bourton-on-the-Water park were on hand to assist the bird to break out of the egg if necessary.

King penguins only produce one egg, and often will not breed for several years, so staff took no chances and placed it in an incubator to hatch. If all goes well it should hatch out within two months.

For proud penguin parents Lily and Frank this is their second chick. Their first Junior, who was born in 2006 was hand reared by head keeper Alistair Keen.

“We are thrilled to have the first king penguin egg hatch successfully," said Alistair. "The chick is doing well and we’re hoping more are on the way,” said Alistair.

“We have six pairs in total and all have the potential to produce fertile eggs,” he added.

There are 17 species of penguin in the world and the king penguin is the second largest, weighing up to 18kg.