Chicks from Jacob Thompson's box and one chick from Drobne Kuca nest box

Yellow-eyed penguin chicks are very social and they do best with company which is usually peaceful except for feeding time and then it is every chick for him/herself. In this threesome there are the two chicks raised in Jacob Thompson's box - they were brought in because unfortunately we found their dad dead due to avian Malaria. They had lost weight and their mother probably had enough by then. Neither has been diagnosed with malaria and now they are ready for the soft-release pen. The chick on the right is a wee male who was raised in Drobne Kuca box. Neither he nor his sibling had good weights, so we took him away and the sibling looked fine last time we spotted it in the field. It has since fledged. Like his pen-mates he has no malaria and he will be heading for the soft-release pen very soon.
Slowly we are thinning out the number of chicks in care, but we are now getting in moulting adults that need a hand. It's like a revolving door!!
P.S. Sad news from Dylan's family: we found his mate dead in the colony yesterday and she was sent off for necropsy to determine what killed her. We suspect avian Malaria.

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