I know this is the fourth or fifth post today from the Hustons, but I thought I'd give everyone an update on my adopted penguin. As you may or may not remember Renee adopted me a penguin hole and you get to name your penguin. Since Jokull means glacier I named it that. His wife, also in the same hole, got the default name of Jokulla.
In a class contest two of my students got to name the two chicks. One girl named her chick Jokuller and the other girl couldn't decide so the whole class named the second chick Jokullest.
Anyway here's my latest update and pictures:
Dear Gene,
When the chicks were about a week or so old, we suffered several days of heavyrain and wind, which caused the chicks to get soaked and cold. When the chicksare less than about 2 weeks old they are unable to keep themselves warm, andrely on the warmth of the parents to survive. However when it rains hard, andthe rain water runs into the nest, it is hard for the adults to keep the chicksdry.We lost quite a few chicks during this bad weather, but thankfully Jokull's chicks are both safe and sound, and growing fast. Now that the chicks are older, they are much stronger and resistant to rain andwind. Internal changes have taken place which enable the chicks to create their own body heat, so the adults no longer need to sit over them to keep them warm. Just as well, since the chicks are growing so fast that they are nearly as bigas the parents, and are now far too big to be sat on. The chicks' larger size means larger appetites too, and the two chicks now demandmore food than one parent can provide, so now both parents must go out to seaeach day to catch fish for the chicks, leaving the chicks alone in the nest duringthe day. The parents know that there are dangers in leaving the youngsters alone in thenest, such as predatory birds called skuas. No doubt the parents tell the chicks to stay in the nest till they get home, but kids are kids, and the big open worldtempts the bored youngsters outside.The chicks explore the area around their nest, but never go too far, and arealways ready to run back to the protection of their nest if danger threatens.They mix with other chicks from neighbouring nests, and even go back to their friends' nests to play. It is common to find four chicks in a nest. The adultsdo not mind other chicks coming into their nest, but will not feed chicks fromother nests, only their own. They are also very aggressive towards any adultsthat might try to enter their nest.Now that the chicks are exploring their neighbourhood and making new friends,we have finally been able to take a picture of Jokull's chicks, which I attachto this email. You can see that the chicks, which weighed only 100 grams 8 weeksago, now weigh around 3 kg. They have increased their weight 30 times in 8 weeks. Even though I see it year after year, it still amazes me how fast they grow.When the adults come back to feed the chicks, it is uncertain how they find theirnest amongst so many others. However it is known that they find and identifytheir chicks by their calls. To us the calls sound the same, but there are tinydifferences in the calls which makes each penguin's voice unique. That is reallyimportant, especially when you consider penguins like the King penguin, whichlive in colonies of hundreds of thousands in South Georgia. King penguins have no nests. They lay their single egg on their feet until ithatches. The chicks are also carried around on the feet when they are small,and then they mix with other chicks in huge groups called creches. So when the King penguin parents return, they have to find their own chick amongst thousandsof other chicks, all huddled together. It is like a parent trying to find herchild amidst the crowd in an Olympic stadium. And penguins have no lost and found.At least our adopted penguins have fixed nests to help locate the chicks. The chicks may have gone into a neighbour's nest to see their friends, but they alwaysstay close to their own nest, and are quick to return when they start feelinghungry, which is most of the time. Feeding the chicks is now a real drain on the parents energy. The chicks' rapidgrowth is fuelled by their gluttonous appetite, and the chicks continually begfor food, even when the parents have given them all they have. It is not surprisingthat the adult penguins loose about 30% of their body weight during chick rearing.The chicks are now entering their moult into waterproof plumage. The fluffy,downy feathers that keep them warm on land, are useless in the water. This fluffyplumage soaks up water like a sponge, weighing the chicks down and making swimmingdifficult. So before they can learn to swim, the chicks replace their fluffydown with sleek, waterproof feathers. Once they have finished the transformation,they will spend a few days practising swimming, before leaving the colony tostart life on their own. Most will not return until they are 4 or 5 years ofage, by which time they will be adults, and looking to raise chicks of theirown. I will write to you again in a few weeks when Jokull's chicks embark on theirjourney into the unknown.
Best wishes, Mike
Thanks Mike for your Argentinian update!
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