Friday, 8 April 2011
Middle-aged females are better at hunting tactics than youth, well in the penguin world they are according to Phillip Island Nature Parks penguin biologist Dr Andre Chiaradia.
A study compiled by French and Australian scientists found that while middle-aged female penguins spent less time in the water, they were more successful at finding food compared to younger and older generations.
“Middle-aged females spent less time under the water with less diving effort,” Dr Chiaradia said.
“But while diving, they had better hunting tactics so they were more efficient at finding food for their offspring.”
Dr Chiaradia added that middle-aged penguins were fortunate because they had similar strength in the younger penguins but the wisdom of the older ones.
“These factors seem to be acting together to make middle-aged penguins better at fishing,” he added.
“This information is especially relevant in years of low resource availability and probably influences the response of penguins to years when food is hard to find.”
Source
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