Penguin Watch Talk

[Backup] old FAQ - 2nd AL: Nesting / bloody or dead looking penguins

  • yshish by yshish moderator, translator

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    This is a backup of the old FAQs. Click here to see the actual ones.

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    1] Nests

    • The piles of pebbles / mud with holes the penguins are lying on are their nests.
    • Please, don't mark nests as eggs (don't mark them as Others either)! Only mark eggs that you can really see.

    2] Egg

    • Eggs can vary in colour from white to dirty grey/brown.
    • Eggs are rarely visible. If the penguins are sitting on pebble nests, or earth scrapes, you might spot one (or two) if the parent is standing up to have a stretch, or the parents are swapping over brooding duties.
    • Please, don't mark empty shells, broken eggs, or abandoned eggs outside the nest area.

    3] Are there any chicks?

    • Most pictures have a date on them. It might help to visit the Breeding cycles page. Sometimes the timing of eggs/chicks/moulting can vary.

    4] Dead looking penguins lying on the ground

    • Sometimes there are penguins lying on the ground; they seem to be dead.
    • Some are chicks which are cooling down / taking a nap.
    • From time to time you can see a dead chick present but it looks quite different to all the other chicks around (shrunken, torn into pieces)
    • Please mark even those chicks you think they may be dead (unless they're torn into pieces or shrunken that they don't look like chick any more, or you can see just their skeleton).
    • Sometimes they have got red marks over their body which look like blood. Most often it is just a poo red from krill they eat.

    5] Blood looking red stuff on penguin's body

    • If you see a red blood-like colour on penguins / snow it is hardly ever real blood. They are often dirty from each other's poo which is red from eating krill containing a very high concentration of red pigment, so called carotenoids.
    • The intensity of red/orange colour of Gentoo beaks is defined by the same red pigments.

    Posted