Image courtesy of Jean Pennycook

From: Jean Pennycook
Cape Royds, Antarctica, January 17, 2009

The Work We Do

Every year, before we leave the Adelie Penguin breeding colonies on Ross Island, we band several hundred chicks. The bands are made of steel and have a number etched in them. They do not harm the bird nor hinder its ability to swim or hunt for food.

When we return, a large part of our job is to find the banded birds. This means walking through the colony with binoculars and looking at the left flipper of each bird. How many bands can you find in this picture?

At Cape Royds there are only about 2000 birds so one person can look at all the birds in a few hours. At the larger colonies it may take a team of searchers a week to look at each bird. Then the process starts over as the birds come and go and we do not want to miss any.

Throughout the years we track where the birds go, when they start to reproduce, how long they live, and how many chicks they produce during their lifetime. For more information on banding and Adelie penguin research go to: http://www.penguinscience.com/education/Did_You_Know.php

Postcards from the Field: Adelie Penguins 2008

You might also be interested in:

Cool It! Game

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

Spring Is Here

It is spring here, although you wouldn't know it. Temperatures are -10°C to -13°C, and in every direction all you see is ice and snow. But we know this is spring for Antarctica because the Sun is up. The...more

Return to Royds

This year the penguins arrived early. Our remote camera recorded the first ones Oct 21, a full week earlier than last year. The sea ice edge is 50 miles away so their walk is much further than last season,...more

Penguin Weather Vanes

Normally when I come down to the colony on my daily rounds the penguins are sitting every which way on their nests. Some face each other, some face away from each other, some face inwards, some outwards,...more

Baby Come Back.

The colony is very quiet now, the nesting groups of penguins are mostly males patiently keeping the 2 eggs warm while the females are out foraging for food. This year the sea ice edge, where the females...more

"The Birds" of Royds

Penguins aren't the only ones that come to Cape Royds to raise their chicks. The South Polar Skua makes its home here during the same time because the pickings are easy. Penguin eggs and chicks fall prey...more

Cave Day

This cave is near the end of an Ice Tongue, a huge part of a glacier that has moved off the land and is floating in the water. Because the ocean is still frozen, we can get close to the cave entrance and...more

Penguin Anomalies

There are 5 million Adelie Penguins in Antarctica, and the vast majority of them are the black and white tuxedo wearing cuties you know and love. But every once in a while we find color differences. In...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