How to mark adolescent chicks?

• by la_nee

  I already read, when in doubt - mark as adult.

  But how about adolescent chicks? Do I mark them as chicks as long as there are some down feathers left?

  Posted February 7, 2015 2:10 PM

• by AvastMH moderator

  Hi la_nee,
  Down feathers can be a bit tricky. Sometimes the adults are moulting at the same time as the juveniles and they can look very similar. With the rockhoppers you will see that the chicks do not have those head crests/whiskers so you can still mark those as chicks. Once the head crest appears it is very difficult to tell, and marking as 'adult' is the only option. The group in this pictures have chicks that are still a bit smaller than the parents and have no head crest, and are still grey and white (not yet black and white).

  With Gentoo penguins the adults have a white head flash, or marking, to distinguish them. And Adelie chicks have a white throat right up to the beak, the parents are black in that area. The King penguins are easiest, the chicks moult from brown to those great colours.

  I hope this helps! Happy counting!
  AvastMH

  Posted February 7, 2015 2:28 PM

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

  The white throat rule is true for both the Adelie chick and Gentoo ones.)

  Z.

  Posted February 7, 2015 10:58 PM