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From our scientist, Hiltrun Ratz, PhD
scientist@penguins.org.nz |
Penguin parents bring food home in the stomach and feed it to their chicks by regurgitation - straight into their mouths. If they drop anything it is lost as they do not pick it up off the ground. Here an adult yellow-eyed penguin is feeding it's big fluffy chick - the sibling won't be far away wanting it's share as well.
We pointed a camera at Uncle Chang's box (convenient trees....!) and got hundred and hundreds of photos of the chicks mucking about. Here is a wee sequence where the chicks is just BORED and ends up dancing about - and falling flat on it's face at the end. Our oldest chicks are changing - already. This beautiful pair of 2 months of yellow-eyed penguin chicks are being raised by one of our sponsored males called Morgan, and he is doing a sterling job. They have pretty much reached adult size and are showing first signs of changing the brown downy feathers into real penguin feathers: if you look carefully at the tail of the front chick you can see them poking out. Also the leading edge of the flipper of the back chick is white: new feathers. (the other white stuff on the front chick's flipper originated probably from the sibling - one does get poohed on from time to time!)
This is Stewie Junior (from Uncle Chang's box) - everyone has moved out now - who had this predator trap added to his house decor and thought it was a marvelous place to sit and supervisor the chicks.
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