PenguinPassion

Adelies

2008-01-28T12:34:00.000-08:00

Adelies are your basic model penguin, the little black and white guys. They stand about 24" to 30" (75 cm) tall and weigh between nine and 14 pounds (4 - 6 kg.) At the end of the breeding season, they may weigh only six to ten pounds (3 - 5 kg.) They have a short, stubby beak in a straight line with their foreheads, which gives them a sort of flat-headed look that culminates in a rounded angle at the back of their heads. Chicks have a white chin that turns black as they reach maturity; that's the best way to tell the juveniles from the adults. The adults also have a white ring around their eyes.

Adelies are snow-and-ice dwellers; they are found primarily on the Antarctic continent and it's offshore islands. They colonize on the edge of the ice in October, building pebble nests on bare ground after the snow and ice have melted. The females lay two eggs and then go off to sea to feed for two weeks, leaving the males to tend them. The eggs hatch after 36 days, and parents will only feed their own chicks, who chase after them for food, rampaging through the entire colony in a truly comical Keystone Kops chase scene. By February, the chicks have moulted and are ready to go to sea with the rest of the colony.

Like several other penguin species, Adelies are krill-eaters. Krill are tiny shrimp that feed much of the ocean life of the Southern Ocean. And because krill are shrimp and shrimp are pink, Adelie colonies are usually awash in pink poop.

Adelies waddle in typical penguion fashion, but when they run or toboggan on their bellies, they can outsprint a running man. I've seen them zoom by at impressive speeds, moving in much the same way on their stomachs as they do in the water.

Like many wildlife species in this part of the world, Adelies have no land predators, chiefly because they are the only land animals in their part of the world. But they are handy prey for Leopard seals while they're in the water, and Skuas and Sheathbills prey on their colonies from the air, snatching eggs and weak or abandoned chicks at every opportunity.

Their personalities are noisy and squabbly. They interact in groups, often standing around together in a circle and squawking noisily. Their individual interactions tend to be fractious, too, and they squabble over pebbles during nest-building time. They're very busy, runnning around, arguing, being chased by or feeding their chicks, and generally providing hours of entertainment. It's impossible to spend any time with them without falling in love.

My favorite species

2008-01-28T12:20:00.000-08:00

I'm back! Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to start this just before Christmas... Anyway, I'm fullky recovered from the holidays and ready to devote more time to my pengs.

I thought I'd do a leisurely survey of my favorite species, the A List, the B List, and the Everything Else List. Please note, though, that these are the species I've actually seen in the feather, so to speak, in their natural habitat. There are 18 species in all, so I h ave ten more to go, and they aren't listed here.

The A List:
Adelies (Pygoscelis adeliae)
Kings (Aptenodytes patagonicus)
Emperors (Aptenodytes forsteri)

The B List:
Gentoos (Pygoscelis papua)
Chinstraps (Pygoscelis antarctica)

The Everything-Else List:
Magellanics (Spheniscus magellanicus)
Rockhoppers (Eudyptes chrysocome)
Macaronis (Eudyptes chrysolophus)

The As are listed in order of preference, so I'll start with my very most favorite penguin of all time, the Adelie.

2007-11-29T11:03:00.000-08:00

Wheee - I've done it!

2007-11-24T19:08:00.001-08:00

It's been a huge year for me. In January, my husband and I went on a dream journey, visiting the Falklands, South Georgia Island, and Antarctica.

In October, I went back - by myself, unfortunately; husband didn't go - to hang out with the Emperors on the Antarctic continent.

I've been nuts about penguins since I was chick-sized myself, but I'm also a computerboob, so it never occurred to me to do anything public about my passion. Then, on my second trip to Antarctica, I met some people who decided that my obsession was larger than I could contain and that I definitely needed to set up a blog. (I think they were just being polite; they probably didn't want to hear any more of my blabbing.)

So, with great fear and trepidation, I did. Just now.

I plan to use it to post pictures of my fairly extensive collection of penguins, photos from my two trips, and perhaps some musings about my experiences with these incredible creatures. Perhaps in the future, I'll be able to provide links to other penguistic sites and vendors.

I welcome visits and participation by other penguin lovers, and look forward to hearing from you. But please be patient; I have to figure out how to do all this, and that might take a while. It's hard to type with flippers.