Odd one out: Adult penguin's striking colours set it apart from hundreds of chicks

By Daily Mail Reporter

9th December 2011

This adult penguin stuck out like a sore thumb when it stepped in among hundreds of chicks.
His colourful feathers certainly set him apart from the brood of 12-month old king penguins.
The adorable sight was caught on camera by husband and wife John Eastcott and Yva Momatiuk.

Odd one out: The colourful feathers of this adult penguin set him apart from the brood of 12-month old king penguins surrounding it

The pair snapped the picture in South Georgia Island, in the Southern Atlantic Ocean.
Mrs Momatiuk said: 'These chicks are already large but they will get bigger before they lose their baby down and reveal their 'adult feathers' that are already growing underneath.

'After they are born, they sit on their parents' feet, hidden in a brooding pouch where they are protected from cold, wet and predators.
'This lasts for around 30 to 40 days before the chicks form creches so their parents can leave them while they fish.

'The adult is just standing in the creche. It could be deterring predators or listening out for its own chick in order to feed it.
'King penguins do not babysit and the adults don't feed chicks that aren't their own.'

Mrs Momatiuk, who lives in the Catskill Mountains, New York, added: 'King penguins are powerful and resilient but they do look great.

'They're your perfect "designer birds" with wonderful colours and shapes as well as their funny waddling walk.'

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