Happy Feet but Sharp Teeth - Young Humboldt Penguin by Michael Cole
September 14 2015
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Monday, September 14, 2015
Penguins Fall In Love On Australian Movie Set
HuffPost Australia
By
Emily Blatchford
Posted:
Move over, Brangelina. There's a new celebrity romance in town. And in true Hollywood-style, it blossomed on set.
Chip the fairy penguin had been unlucky in love before kicking off his movie career -- a pivotal role in the upcoming Australian family flick "Oddball. "It was here, while developing his acting chops, that Chip noticed the enigmatic Edith -- could she be the bird for him? And can we expect the pitter patter of little penguin flippers any time soon?
Check out the ultra-cute video above to find out.
"Oddball" follows the true-life story of a dog who saves a colony of penguins from fox attacks. It is set for release in Australia on Thursday, 17 September. View the trailer below.
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Absence makes the heart grow fonder ... especially if you're a penguin
BEN MACK
PAUL SAGAR/NIWA
Rockhopper penguins.
Researchers looking at the mating habits of southern rockhopper penguins have found pairs travel hundreds of kilometres apart when not mating. But despite staying apart for much of the year, the pairs returned to each other to make babies, the researchers found.
The penguins are found mostly around the southern tip of South America but are close relatives to the eastern rockhopper penguin, which is found in the Sub Antarctic Islands.
Scientists attached sensors to 10 couples - 20 penguins in all. They found the pairs spent about six months apart at a time, before returning to mate in the Falklands.
One committed penguin pair travelled nearly 2,500km from each other before rekindling their romance.
University of Otago Associate professor Yolanda van Heezik - who was not part of the study - said the study helped shed light on where penguins went and what they did when not breeding and whether they remained together after being apart.
"What's new about this study is that it is the first that investigates whether mates hang out together when they are not involved in raising young," she said.
"In general, breeding performance in penguins is positively related to pair bond duration, so birds that have been together for a few seasons are more likely to raise healthy chicks."
The scientists who conducted the study also noted other remarkably human-like behaviour from the penguins. Mates would build nests together, and even raise children like a human couple.
"Divorces" also happened among the penguins, but were generally rare.
Van Heezik said similar studies are yet to be done on NZ-native yellow-eyed penguins or blue penguins, but suggested they might be less prone to wandering than rockhoppers.
"Regarding our own species of penguins, nobody has tracked yellow-eyed penguins outside the breeding season. They don't disappear completely as do rockhoppers, but just become less predictable in when they come ashore. So they are probably still foraging over the continental shelf within about 35km of the shore."
A type of crested penguins, southern rockhopper penguins have been seen in movies including "Happy Feet" and "Surf's Up."
source
Sunday, September 13, 2015
Saturday, September 12, 2015
Shower Time for Belfast Zoo Gentoo Penguins
Earlier this year, three adorable gentoo penguin chicks turned heads at the zoo.
Zoo keepers have been preparing for their arrival since February, installing nest rings into the penguin enclosures and even putting up umbrellas for shade and to protect the parents and chicks from wet weather.
The chicks, hatched in May, are becoming more independent and exploring the penguin pool.
Zoo manager Mark Challis said the penguins were a firm favourite with visitors, especially in the underwater viewing area where they can be observed smoothly gliding through the water.
source
Friday, September 11, 2015
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Penguin Mates Often Have Long Distance Relationships Scientists Say
By Jill Arce, Tech Times | September 10, 2015
For penguins, absence does make the heart grow fonder.
Latest study on southern rockhopper penguins found that the smallest yellow-crested, black-and-white penguin in the genus Eudyptes actually engages in long distance relationships with its mate, spending most of the year away and going back to the same mate to make babies.
"In these extremely faithful animals - the pair bonds for breeding may last all life long in this species - the partners may actually be separated by hundreds to thousands of kilometers at sea," said researcher Jean-Baptiste Thiebot.
For their study, Thiebot's team followed and tracked the activity of ten couples by clipping lightweight sensors onto the 20 birds. The penguin couples were apart for about six months. Findings of the research were published online Sept. 9 in the journal Biology Letters.
The sensors clipped onto the penguins showed that each pair was approximately a hundred kilometers apart while feasting at sea during separation. Out of the 20 tracked penguins, seen pairs made it back home for breeding and to rekindle their relationships. Two individual birds came back without their mates, while the remaining four either moved away or died at sea.
When the penguins returned home off the coast of Argentina to New Island, they actually managed to find each other and mate. Their reunions were, however, short - in just less than a quarter of the year.
After six months apart, when the penguins returned home in October, mating was first among their to-do list. Then for a whole month, the birds busied themselves with egg-laying and incubation. The researchers did not find any "lingering over the kids." Rearing of the chicks would take up approximately 70 days just before the penguin moms and dads split up again in April.
Hundreds of kilometers away from their mates, and for roughly six
months, made the penguins either stay close together, or end up
"divorcing." According to Thiebot, divorce is not uncommon among
penguins, but majority make it back home together as a couple after a
long period of separation to build a family.
There was also an instance where the researchers found that a penguin couple that was farther apart from each other during separation showed different behavior. After being almost 2,500 kilometers apart, the birds did return home, but became homebodies, spending most of their time at the nest. Because of this, the researchers noted that penguins that do not build a home together, such as the Emperor penguin, are least likely to be as monogamous as the southern rockhopper which, even after a long period of separation from its mate, comes back to build a home, usually with the same partner.
Photo: Matt Kieffer | Flickr
source
The
southern rockhopper, the smallest, yellow-crested black-and-white
penguin is a monogamous specie, going back home to the same partner
after a long time and distance apart to build a family.
(Photo : Matt Kieffer | Flickr)
(Photo : Matt Kieffer | Flickr)
For penguins, absence does make the heart grow fonder.
Latest study on southern rockhopper penguins found that the smallest yellow-crested, black-and-white penguin in the genus Eudyptes actually engages in long distance relationships with its mate, spending most of the year away and going back to the same mate to make babies.
"In these extremely faithful animals - the pair bonds for breeding may last all life long in this species - the partners may actually be separated by hundreds to thousands of kilometers at sea," said researcher Jean-Baptiste Thiebot.
For their study, Thiebot's team followed and tracked the activity of ten couples by clipping lightweight sensors onto the 20 birds. The penguin couples were apart for about six months. Findings of the research were published online Sept. 9 in the journal Biology Letters.
The sensors clipped onto the penguins showed that each pair was approximately a hundred kilometers apart while feasting at sea during separation. Out of the 20 tracked penguins, seen pairs made it back home for breeding and to rekindle their relationships. Two individual birds came back without their mates, while the remaining four either moved away or died at sea.
When the penguins returned home off the coast of Argentina to New Island, they actually managed to find each other and mate. Their reunions were, however, short - in just less than a quarter of the year.
After six months apart, when the penguins returned home in October, mating was first among their to-do list. Then for a whole month, the birds busied themselves with egg-laying and incubation. The researchers did not find any "lingering over the kids." Rearing of the chicks would take up approximately 70 days just before the penguin moms and dads split up again in April.
There was also an instance where the researchers found that a penguin couple that was farther apart from each other during separation showed different behavior. After being almost 2,500 kilometers apart, the birds did return home, but became homebodies, spending most of their time at the nest. Because of this, the researchers noted that penguins that do not build a home together, such as the Emperor penguin, are least likely to be as monogamous as the southern rockhopper which, even after a long period of separation from its mate, comes back to build a home, usually with the same partner.
Photo: Matt Kieffer | Flickr
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