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From our scientist, Hiltrun Ratz, PhD
scientist@penguins.org.nz |
This is a sponsored 3-year female yellow-eyed penguin who has lost her mate last year, Magnificent Wotan who unfortunately died of avian malaria. We had hoped she would hook up with her bachelor neighbour but instead she paired up with her other neighbour whose mate had run off up the hill with someone else. No matter. Whoever is her mate, she is back and sitting on two eggs!
This is a recently sponsored yellow-eyed penguin lady who made us wait for her eggs. She was the last one to lay and her mate built her a most beautiful nest. She has an interesting story in that she moved over 1km from one of our colonies to the other after she had bred at least a couple of years in the old one. Not just that, she moved with her neighbour - like they ran away together! This is rare for yellow-eyed penguins - and maybe even rarer that they used to be neighbours and now they have been breeding together in the same box for three years! Happily ever after!
Maybe having a sponsor increases the survival chance of a chick? This is yellow-eyed penguin that is loved from afar by her sponsor who has adopted her as a chick and here she is two years later a proud mum with 2 eggs. Her mate moved from one end of the colony to the other to be with her and they are pioneers breeding in a area no one ever has done before. We will be watching over them of course like for all the others - but they have a guardian angel out there, so no worries, eh?
There are many people who have a special place in their hearts for penguins. Jacob was one of them and his box from last year was not used by a breeding pair this year so a kind person re-sponsored a new box in his memory with a pair incubating 2 eggs. This pair of yellow-eyed penguins is experienced and very successful in the past and they got a new box because their old one was a little dank. This one is big, bright and dry and fits the whole family once the chicks have hatched. Thank you all for caring for boys and for penguins!
The year Morgan (see our last post) was sponsored, a wee chick was also blessed with a sponsor from the same family and they named it Thor. It survived Diphtheria and fledged naturally and hasn't been seen for two years - until last week in this nest. Ever heard of a girl called Thor? Well it turns out Thor is a girl because she got an egg and her mate is definitely a boy.....so what will it be? Re-name her Thora? Re-name her after Thor's wife Sif? Or is she just a female god of thunder and fertility? This powerful name may have served her well - she is alive and breeding and making more baby-Thors! You go girl!
P.S. we can't sex penguins until they are fully grown and she has had this name since she was very little....it's hit and miss with the naming but this just made us laugh! This is a double-blessed yellow-eyed penguin: he has many people who love him from afar as he is named after a loved one. He is back with his wife from last year, got a couple of eggs in his nest - and he has moved up the hill: into a box sponsored by the same people who have sponsored him. How good is life when you are a sponsored penguin!!
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