Subject: APZ0005bto
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Just fledged!
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by
AvastMH
moderator
It is a bit early for fledging here. 😉 But I do notice that they mostly have their backs to the camera. And some have the feathers on
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by
AvastMH
moderator
their necks so blown around that you can see the white of their feather roots. So it must be a furiously windy day 😃
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Thank you Joan--we thought fledging was right when they stepped away from their parents (like a bird leaving a nest).
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When is it technically fledging?
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by
gardenmaeve
moderator
When songbirds fledge they take their first flight. When penguins fledge they take their first swim, with waterproof feathers.
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by
gardenmaeve
moderator
Before the adult feathers grow in, and they lose the baby down, they are completely dependent on their parents.
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by
gardenmaeve
moderator
Once they can go to sea, they are completely on their own with all the other newly mature fledges. They must swim for the first time, find food, avoid danger, etc.
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by
yshish
moderator, translator
Here's a detailed picture of Adelie feathers
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by
yshish
moderator, translator
(Not sure you can see it properly from the picture but they're completely white except for the black tip!)
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by
AvastMH
moderator
Only a small detail to add and that it that Adelie chicks fledge at around 52 to 61 days old.
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by
AvastMH
moderator
Before that they have the creche phase, and I think that these youngsters are pretty much at that point. This group born about
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by
AvastMH
moderator
last week December 2013. They were in a creche by the 24th January: http://talk.penguinwatch.org/#/subjects/APZ0005b4c
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"Thank you we didn't know that they were going to go swimming for the first time." [Annika]
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You all are great. That was a perfect explanation. It makes sense that fledging is when they are fully independant. 😄
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