Nest Check 2025

Nest Check has started. Watch these penguins raise their chicks as the season progresses. Some of the nests need names. Submit them to me here: askanadelie@gmail.com

December 2025. We have arrived at Cape Royds on Ross Island, Antarctica. The pictures below are the nests from 2025-26 season. Click on the NEST # to see the daily pictures of that family and the story of their chicks.

Click on the year to see the families from previous seasons: 2019, 2022, 2024. Click HERE to see nests from previous years (2012-2018).

Nest 1

Band #06661 – Female

This female is 15 years old, and the oldest known-age bird in the Cape Royds colony currently. She is an experienced parent and has successfully raised six chicks with her mate.

This bird was born in 2021, making her 4 years old this year. This is a young bird who only returned to the colony for the first time last year. Last year she did not attempt to breed, but this year she hatched one chick! Their nest is more protected, so perhaps her mate is more experienced.

Nest 3

Band # 77209 – Male

This bird was born in 2020, making him five years old. This bird returned to the colony for the first time last year. He tried to woo a mate but ended up alone. Maybe this year is his lucky year—he found a partner and together they are trying to raise offspring!

Nest 4

Band #76957 – Male

This bird was born in 2019. He returned in late 2023 at 4 years old to investigate the breeding colony. The next year it came back, claimed a territory, and successfully raised one chick with his mate! He must be a talented young parent.

Nest 5

Band #78706 – Male

This male penguin was born in 2015, making him 10 years old this year. He first came back to the colony in 2019, at 4 years old. For two years, he and his partner tried to hatch eggs, but they were not successful. In 2023, they finally raised a chick, and they did it again the next year too! Practice makes perfect!

Nest 6

Band #76670 – Female

This bird was born in 2017. She bird returned to the colony for the first time in 2020 at 3 years old, but she only wandered around and did not breed. She was not seen again for three years. In 2023, she and her mate tried to raise an egg, but they were unsuccessful. However, last year they successfully raised one chick!

Nest 7

Skua pair

Oh, what’s this? A skua nest near the penguin colony? Well, we will have to follow this nest too and see how this pair does during the breeding season! The male is the darker bird, while the female is a lighter cream color. They have dug a shallow scrape in the rocks for their nest, and both parents take turns sitting on their green speckled egg.