Penguin Watch Talk

Amusing picture of a penguin traffic nightmare

  • AvastMH by AvastMH moderator

    We often see penguins (especially on the #Nessie_Line site) wandering along their snow channel paths...this picture amused me no end. Hope you all enjoy it too 😃 (I'd love to know how they solved the ensuing traffic jam 😄 )

    enter image description here

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  • gardenmaeve by gardenmaeve moderator

    Oh, how funny! I'd like to know how a Gentoo penguin solves that little snag! Thanks, AdvastMH

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  • coldcounter by coldcounter

    Well ... seeing they are southern hemisphere penguins I would suggest that they would "Keep Left" unless they got their licenses in Europe !!! (mmmm.... what side do they drive on in South America???) Love the pic!!

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  • gardenmaeve by gardenmaeve moderator

    Good thinking, @coldcounter!

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  • AvastMH by AvastMH moderator

    And another interesting take on Penguin traffic. An OldWeather Citizen Scientist found this interesting article on Emperor Penguin wave behaviour within their huddles. We don't see Emperors on PenguinWatch, but their huddles are famous - and more interesting than at first believed. Enjoy!

    Etiquette first: Warning: I could not find a version of this that does not carry adverts on the same page.

    http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2015/12/the-social-dynamics-of-penguin-huddles-are-more-complex-than-we-thought/

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  • gardenmaeve by gardenmaeve moderator

    Yes, I've referred to the geometry of penguins. The movements discussed in the article are very like the movements of a school of fish, or murmuration in flyiing birds like starlings. Thanks for the link, AvastMH! 😃

    Here's a video showing a murmuration of starlings.

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  • AvastMH by AvastMH moderator

    Wild!! that murmuration was filmed on Otmoor which is about 3 miles NE of my house! 😄 It is very beautiful. They are so elegant in flight 😃

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  • coldcounter by coldcounter

    I just love the description .... a murmuration .... started thinking about what other words could be used for penguins .... and googled collective nouns for penguins and came up with ..... apart from the usual suspects (rookery, colony, creche,... ) these suggestions ......

    a formality of penguins

    an icing of penguins

    a march of penguins

    a parade of penguins

    a parcel of penguins

    a shiver of penguins

    a tobogganing of penguins

    a town of penguins

    and a waddle of penguins

    and if they are in the water ..... a raft of penguins ...... [added this in later....]

    I particularly like the the icing, shiver, tobogganing and waddle .... think I will have to use these terms in relation to them much more.... 😃 😃 (did you know it is a bouquet of hummingbirds?)

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  • gardenmaeve by gardenmaeve moderator

    Lovely coincidence, AvastMH. 😃

    @coldcounter- That's a great list. Does each term have a particular description/definition?

    Have you encountered "a murder of crows"? If you've ever seen and heard crows harassing a hawk or owl, it would immediately make sense.

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  • coldcounter by coldcounter

    I left the raft of penguins (as when they are in the water) off the list but there were no definitions attached to the others. I had a need to learn a few strange collective nouns not that long ago and didn't learn the others for penguins at that time but the ones I particularly remember are "a crash of rhinoceros", "a tower of giraffes", "a prick of hedgehogs", "a parliament of owls", "an ostentation of peacocks" and "a clowder of cats" .... and now that you say about the murder of crows I remember that one too! It all started because I thought an appropriate one for koalas would be a cuddle of koalas and then discovered there is no collective for koalas as they are solitary animals .... I still think a cuddle of koalas would be appropriate...... most of them, in some way, do make some sort of sense 😃 😃

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  • AvastMH by AvastMH moderator

    I like 'a parliament of rooks' - when you see them together they do look like they having some serious conversation 😃

    Love the penguin nouns coldcounter 😄

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  • gardenmaeve by gardenmaeve moderator

    "I left the raft of penguins (as when they are in the water) off the list..."

    @coldcounter- If you want to, you can add that to your list 😉

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