Cape Royds 
Nest
Check
Cape Royds is a small colony of about 2100 nests. It has declined in size since 2000, when there were 4000 nests. The decline was due to a large iceberg that grounded about 60 km (40 miles) north and caused McMurdo Sound to be completely ice covered. This made it difficult for Royds penguins, who had to walk much longer distances than they like. Therefore, many penguins left Royds to find nests in colonies closer to open water. This season, open water is very close and the penguins only have to walk about 1 km. That is a relatively short distance and it should not present great difficulties for the penguins. Of course, they would like to not walk at all; rather they'd like to swim to find their food.
Cape Royds Nest Check | Bird Biography-Nest History
| DATE | TEMPERATURE | WIND SPEED | CLOUD COVER | NOTES |
| 1-19-08 | +2.3oC | 5 mph from N | overcast | |
| 1-20-08 | +4.0oc | 4 mph from N | overcast | |
| 1-21-08 | +3.4 oC | 4 mph from N | clear and sunny | |
| 1-22-08 | -1.0 oC | 8 mph from N | cloudy | the weather has changed. |
| Click here to see weather data archive. | ||||
Welcome to Nest Check 2007-2008. We have selected 6 Adelie Penguin families to follow as they raise their chicks at Cape Royds. You can follow along on a daily basis by logging in and checking the "picture of the day" at the right. If you miss a day, click on the nest number where you will see all the daily pictures and more about each of the nests. Click on any picture to see a larger version.
Create your own Cape Royds fieldbook. Keep track of the penguins nest status, just like the biologists do here on Ross Island! Record the date of your observations, weather conditions, status of the nest (chick or egg), and who is the tending adult (male or female). Five of the nests are banded females, and one is a banded male. Create a chart or graph to compare the time each adult spends on it's nest. Click here for the Nesting Time Activitiy.
| Nest
#1. The banded female at this nest is 7 years old and her
mate is probably about the same age. Her band number is 2774.
The 2007-08 Nest Check activity is completed. Of the 6 nests we started with, 2 raised 2 chicks each, 2 raised 1 chick each and 2 nests failed to raise any chicks. 6 chicks from 6 nests is our total and close to the average for Adelie Penguins, which is about 1 chick per nest. Thank you for joining us this year and watching our Adelie Penguin chicks grow. We will be returning to Cape Royds in November 2008 for a whole new season with new familes. Keep our website in your 'favorites' folder. We will continue to post pictures of events in the colony as long as we are here, so tune in every day. Below are the families we followed this year, click on the Nest # to see the complete archive of photos. |
|
 |
 |
| Nest #2. This pair is a close neighbor of nest #1. The banded female is 7 years old and wears the number 2543. The male is probably about her age. |
|
 |
 |
| Nest #3 This pair was the first to lay their eggs. This is the only banded male in the study and he is 6 years old. |
|
 |
 |
Nest #4. This pair was in our study last year and raised two chicks. The band number on the female is 00293. She is now 14 years old. She has used this nest for the last 4 seasons and her mate is likely the same bird. |
|
 |
 |
Nest #5 This pair was also in our study last year. Her band is 01183. She is now 9 years old and her mate is probably about the same age. She has successfully raised chicks in the past including last year when she raised two chicks. Her first egg was laid on Nov 24. |
|
 |
 |
| Nest #6. This pair was also in our study last year, but was unsuccessful in raising chicks. It was her first attempt at raising a family, their 2 day old chick was lost to predators. They have returned this year to the same nest site to try again. Her band number is 3537. | |
 |
 |
| Jan 29 , 2008 Today's pictures. Life at the ice edge |
|
 |
 |
Weddel Seal |
 |
| Crabeater Seal |
 |
 |
|
