Adelie Chicks cuddling

It's interesting to see so many chicks together. Where are the parents? Is there some kind of a penguin kindergarden?

Posted February 6, 2015 10:01 PM

by yshish moderator, translator in response to la_nee's comment.

Good question! Yes, there is 😃

Newly hatched chicks are incubated by one parent only. The other parent feeds at the sea. This guard phase lasts about 20 days. Then a crèche phase comes when both parents go forage for food to the sea while their chicks gather in such groups of other chicks.. Their purpose is to protect them from predators like Skuas or Petrels and from bad weather conditions.

Enjoy the counting and keep asking 😃

Zuzi

Posted February 6, 2015 10:44 PM

by Nickypeng moderator

Hi
Here's a couple more pictures of creches
http://talk.penguinwatch.org/#/subjects/APZ0003jle
http://talk.penguinwatch.org/#/subjects/APZ0000c2t

Posted February 7, 2015 5:24 AM

by la_nee

Thank you, yshish and Nickypeng 😃

Are there penguin species, that don't form creches?

Posted February 7, 2015 2:16 PM

by AvastMH moderator

We might well need a scientist to help out with this question. There certainly are some burrowing penguins (Little Penguins, Magellanic Penguins) and perhaps they do not form creches?

Posted February 7, 2015 2:30 PM

by Nickypeng moderator

The yellow-eyed penguins in New Zealand are much more solitary - they don't live in big colonies most other penguins. Their chicks don't form creches.
Not sure about others.

Posted February 10, 2015 10:11 AM

by wildmonster

"Temperate or subtropical crested penguins, like the macaroni or erect-crested, and penguins that nest in burrows, like the fairy or Humboldt, do not form crèches."
http://swbgadventurecamp.org/animal-info/info-books/penguin/hatching-&-care.htm

Also interesting for me to learn that adults won't always rush to defend chicks in a creche that are not their own when attacked by predators, but having adults around creches does help to deter predators somewhat. (Similarly, adults don't feed chicks who are not their own even though chicks will beg for food from any adult - they will just get a a little nip for their trouble!)

Posted February 10, 2015 3:31 PM

by wildmonster

Also, just saw in a penguin reference book a photo of five Magellanic penguin chicks in a burrow. The caption reads: "Magellanic penguin chicks do not really form creches, but sometimes several chicks stay close together in burrow nests. (P.D.Boersma)"

Posted February 10, 2015 4:13 PM

by AvastMH moderator

That's very interesting - thanks wildmonster 😃

Posted February 10, 2015 5:31 PM

by la_nee

That's interesting 😃 Thanks wildmonster

It's also funny to see the differences in names. In my mothertongue the fairy penguins are called dwarfen penguins (Zwergenpinguine). Fairy sounds much more flattering.

[Also Gentoo penguins are called donkey penguins (Eselspinguine).]

Posted February 23, 2015 5:43 PM

by yshish moderator, translator in response to la_nee's comment.

Yes, the taxonomy in my language is also very (extremely) funny 😃 I could spend the whole life just by reading all the names again and again!

Posted February 23, 2015 5:57 PM

by yshish moderator, translator

OH GREAT! This "lost" thread is back so it really disappeared only due to the bug with not displaying older pages 😃 Cool!!

Z.

Posted May 4, 2015 8:18 PM

by gardenmaeve moderator

Hurrah!

Posted May 5, 2015 12:05 PM