Penguin Watch Talk

Still active project? And how to differ Gentoo chicks/adult

  • gott777 by gott777

    Hi, I read about this Project in our newspaper and start clicking on penguines like crazy. Now I realize, that the photos are taken 2013... Is this project still active or has it already ended? Oh, and by the way, I have big Problems to differ Gentoo chicks and adults. The two sample-photos don't help me 😦 Any signs to differ them? Their chicks don't seem to be brown like the other penguine races..

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  • AvastMH by AvastMH moderator

    Hi gott77 and welcome to the very much still active PenguinWatch. Glad you've been crazily clicking our crazy penguins 😃 We've recently reached a million picture counts (that's pictures, not penguins!), and there's heaps more to go, so your help is very much appreciated. There is, with these types of project, a lot of lead time in taking pictures over a year (night and day), retrieving the cameras, processing images, getting a zooniverse website set up and filled with the photos...and THEN the real fun starts for us citizen scientists in providing the vital data to the research scientists so that they can help the penguins.

    Some of us realised recently that the identification pictures were not helping enough, and that we do need a 'frequently asked questions' list. A few of us have been burning the midnight oil to set these up...so we will be helping everyone with better images/information soon.

    So with this photo you can see Gentoo penguins. They have that typical white head flash or marking as adults, but the chicks are fluffy and grey+white without the head marking (there are no chicks here). Eventually the chicks are so big that the make their moult into adult plumage and then you see the white head marking develop. This may well happen as the adults moult too. Then it is very difficult to tell the difference so we ask that, if you are in doubt, please mark the penguins as 'adult'.
    The only chicks that we have that are brown are the King penguin chicks.
    You might find our breeding cycle diagram useful: http://talk.penguinwatch.org/#/boards/BPZ0000002/discussions/DPZ00002pg

    Most of all, please do always feel very welcome to ask for help, and to comment on any dramatic or funny pictures too. It is good to be able to enjoy this project to the full, and other users will enjoy your input.

    Happy counting!
    AvastMH

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  • yshish by yshish moderator, translator

    Perfectly said, @AvastMH ... just would like to add that even Adelie chicks could appear (dark) brown, depending on the light intensity.

    Happy counting:) see you on the board! Zuzi

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  • AvastMH by AvastMH moderator

    That's true - Adelie chicks can look brown in strong sunlight 😃

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