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| Skua. These birds are large
and aggressive. They nest near the penguin colonies using penguin eggs
and chicks as a food supply. |
Adelie penguin feet. Notice
large toe nail/claws, useful for walking on ice and climbing over rocks. |
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| Adelie penguin wing. Some
unique features: a) bones are fused, and thus penguins can not fold
their wings like other birds, b) feathers are short and tightly layered
thus reducing drag (friction) when swimming, and c) shape is flipper
like, more like the fin of a dolphin, seal or sea turtle. |
Adelie penguin tail. Long
and stiff feathers add to the fusiform shape of penguins aiding in their
swimming. |
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| Adelie penguin nest. Rocks,
the only resource available in Antarctica from which a nest could be
made. |
Cape Royds Penguin Research
Station. Cape Royds, Ross Island, Antarctica. |
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| Weighbridge. Scientists
use this devise to monitor Adelie penguins as they come and go between
the nest and the sea. Internal electronic tags identify the penguin
giving the date and time of their arrival or departure. The step pad
weighs the penguin. The device shows that after sitting on the nest
for several days, a penguin loses body weight, but when it returns from
foraging it has regained the lost weight. The device can also determine
how much food the penguin fed its chick. |
Adelie penguin skeleton.
Penguins walk upright, more like humans than ducks or other water fowl.
This skeleton shows the spinal column and leg structure. |
