Penguin Watch Talk

Subject: APZ00087ql

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Comments

  • jumpin by jumpin

    I'm wondering what the red substance is on the ground. Is it food/fish remains? I'm assuming from the color it's not feces.

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  • gardenmaeve by gardenmaeve moderator

    Yes, and no 😃

    It is faeces (often called poo here) coloured by the krill of which they eat so many.

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  • yshish by yshish moderator, translator

    Yes, krill contain carotenoid which is also a source for the red pigment of their beaks! 😃

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  • Motherjoanne by Motherjoanne

    And the pink in Flamingo feathers. Is there a Flamingo Watch? I wonder why the penguin feathers don't get colored.

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  • AvastMH by AvastMH moderator

    It would not be an advantage to be a pink bellied penguin. The white stomach allows them to be almost invisible to a predator (like a seal)

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  • AvastMH by AvastMH moderator

    who is swimming underneath them. Their black back makes them virtually invisible to a predator swimming above them. The Flamingos breed

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  • AvastMH by AvastMH moderator

    earlier and have better partners when they are as pink as possible. Perhaps this shows that they are successful feeders? At any rate

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  • AvastMH by AvastMH moderator

    Flamingoes have found it valuable to have preening oil that contains the carotinoids absorbed from the shrimp. For penguins, such a

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  • AvastMH by AvastMH moderator

    colour would put the penguin at far greater risk of predation. I did see some pink penguins here - reflecting a beautiful

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  • AvastMH by AvastMH moderator

    sunset in that beautifully glossy white plumage. A nice safe pink! 😃

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  • Motherjoanne by Motherjoanne

    I was wondering what the biological process could be that colors the flamingo feathers and not the penguins.

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  • AvastMH by AvastMH moderator

    Hi Motherjoanne, back to you soon on this subject - just discovering some very interesting science about fluorescing penguins!

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  • Motherjoanne by Motherjoanne

    Wow. Let us know. Thanks. If I ate enough fluorescing plankton, could I start to glow in the water? Skinny dipping would never be the same!

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  • AvastMH by AvastMH moderator

    😄 got plenty of info - but need to log off (boo hiss!!!) So I'll pick up on this tomorrow night! Don;t go glowing in the dark just yet! 😄

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  • AvastMH by AvastMH moderator

    http://www.mncn.csic.es/docs/repositorio//es_ES//investigacion/Ecologia_evolutiva/Cuervo/1441.pdf has amazing details that I'll summarize

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  • yshish by yshish moderator, translator

    As far as I know, the intensity of the red colouration of their beak is supposed to reflect their sexual attraction and health condition.

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  • coldcounter by coldcounter

    Wow, great line of discussion. It never ceases to amaze me how much time and effort the moderators and others put into finding

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  • coldcounter by coldcounter

    answers to everyone's questions and responding to our sometimes very silly observations.... Thank you all. 😃 😃

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  • coldcounter by coldcounter

    Now, to go and read up on carotids .....

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  • Motherjoanne by Motherjoanne

    I had a great flash when carotids led to carytids and I visioned a row of penguins supporting the roof over the porch on the Acropolis.

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  • AvastMH by AvastMH moderator

    I so wish I was a cartoonist and could draw an elegant penguin version of the caryatids! 😄
    So if you've read up on carotids you'll

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  • AvastMH by AvastMH moderator

    have plenty of blood going to your brain to help your thought processes along (wink!) 😉 What yshish says is true and counts for

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  • AvastMH by AvastMH moderator

    flamingoes as well 'As far as I know, the intensity of the red colouration of their beak is supposed to reflect their sexual attraction and

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  • AvastMH by AvastMH moderator

    health condition.' But the flamingoes can afford to have a really dazzling show of how good they are at finding food (that's got to be a

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  • AvastMH by AvastMH moderator

    real attraction for your partner!) by going pink all over. The penguins dare not.
    The yellow in penguin feathers (think of our

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  • AvastMH by AvastMH moderator

    Macaronis and Kings) is highly unusual - for more info, this article covers some of the science (it's

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  • coldcounter by coldcounter

    (snicker) ... the vision of buxom penguins holding up the Acropolis .... I'd travel to Greece to see that !!! 😃 😃

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  • AvastMH by AvastMH moderator

    It might solve many problems - the tourist rate would rise exponentially! 😄

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  • Motherjoanne by Motherjoanne

    Penguins to the rescue!

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  • AvastMH by AvastMH moderator

    Yeah! 😄 😄 ;D - see - I always say how talented our feathery friends are 😃

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