Where do Adélie penguins live?
The first recording of this behavior was made by Dr. The Adélie penguin, which travels an average of 13,000 km (8,077 mi) a year, moving from breeding grounds to breeding grounds and back again.
During the mating season, Adélie penguins migrate from sea ice onto solid land, forming colonies that can be thousands of members strong. The Adélie has been described as somewhat selfish. British Royal Navy Surgeon Lieutenant and scientist George Murray Luke wrote in 1910:
“Where they frequent [the water], a long ridge of ice about six feet high runs for hundreds of yards along the water’s edge, and here, like sea ice, the masses stand close to the water’s edge.”
The breeding season begins in October with the Antarctic spring. Penguins build their nests by placing small stones in a circle. After the eggs are laid in December, the parents take turns incubating the eggs and going hunting. The lagging parent does not eat with the eggs during their turn. When the chicks are about 3 weeks old, both parents leave them and return to the sea to hunt. The winged chicks gather in groups called creches to keep each other warm. They begin hunting at about 9 weeks of age when their coats are replaced by waterproof ones. Young penguins who have not learned to read social cues sometimes They will try to mate with the wrong partner – another male, a very young chick, or a dead female.
The Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) is a species of penguin (order Sphenisciformes) characterized by black and white feathers and a small ring of white feathers around each eye. During the warmer months, Adélie penguins are found primarily in a few breeding colonies along the rocky, ice-free Antarctic coast. Colonies are also found in the South Shetland, South Orkney, and South Sandwich Islands. In the winter months, they migrate north to forage where the ice covers open water.
Adult Adélie penguins are 70–73 cm (about 28–29 in) long and weigh 4–6 kg (about 9–13 lb), with males being longer and slightly heavier than females. A continuous strip of black feathers covers the bird's head, beak, back and tail, while the entire ventral (front) part is made up of white feathers. In addition to the prominent white eye ring, other distinguishing features include long feathers on the back of the head that can be raised into a crest and a dull black and orange bill. Juveniles, on the other hand, have white throats and black eye rings. The feathers of Adélie penguin chicks are light grey to dark black.
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