Image courtesy of Jean Pennycook

From: Jean Pennycook
Cape Royds, December 19, 2006

How Do We Study the Penguins?

This is a device which identifies and weighs the parents as they move from the nest to the ocean to feed, and back. An electronic identification tag (like the ones in pets and race horses) has been inserted under their skin. When they go through the gate, the sensors read the tag and identifies the bird. With two sensors we can tell if the bird came in or went out. There is also a step bridge which records the weight of the bird. This is how we know how many days the birds are on the nest or out feeding, and how much they bring in to feed their chicks. The parents change places on the nest every one to three days. The chicks will grow from less than 100 grams at birth to over 3000 grams(30 times their birth weight) in about 43 days. In addition to their own food demands, parents must bring back enough food for their chicks to sustain the growth rate.

Penguin Science

Go to the Next Postcard

Postcards from the Field: Antarctica

You might also be interested in:

Traveling Nitrogen Classroom Activity Kit

Check out our online store - minerals, fossils, books, activities, jewelry, and household items!...more

One Week After the First Chick Hatched

One week after their first chick hatched, (see Dec 12 postcard) this pair now has two chicks that have almost doubled in size. The parent has trouble keeping them both in her incubation pouch which is...more

Penguin Colonies

This is Ross Island, a volcanic island embedded in the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica. Adelie penguins are found all around Antarctica, but we will be filming the documentary at the breeding colonies shown...more

View from our home

This is a view of the Adelie penguin breeding colony at Cape Royds in Antarctica. In the foreground you see Shackleton’s hut. Sir Ernest Shackleton and his team of explorers tried and failed to cross the...more

Time to Raise the Chicks

We are at Cape Royds, Ross Island, Antarctica, a penguin breeding colony of several thousand Adelie penguins. This female is 8 years old and has been a successful breeder in the past. She was first seen...more

Ice, Fire, and Penguins

Cape Royds penguin breeding colony is in the shadow of Mt Erebus, one of three volcanoes on Ross Island and the only active one. Antarctica Explorer James Clark Ross named two of the volcanoes after his...more

Proud Parents

At long last the moment we have been waiting for, the first Adelie chick of the season. We have been scanning nest sites for broken egg shells, evidence that a chick has hatched. On Dec 12, 2006 we sighted...more

A Family of Penguins

Chicks are hatching everyday now and the colony is bubbling with new life. The air is filled with the songs of penguins returning from feeding and the growls of predatory Skua birds as they circle the...more

Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part is sponsored in part through grants from federal agencies (NASA and NOAA), and partnerships with affiliated organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Earth System Information Partnership, the American Meteorological Society, the National Center for Science Education, and TERC. The American Geophysical Union and the American Geosciences Institute are Windows to the Universe Founding Partners. NESTA welcomes new Institutional Affiliates in support of our ongoing programs, as well as collaborations on new projects. Contact NESTA for more information. NASA ESIP NCSE HHMI AGU AGI AMS NOAA