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Chinstrap penguins
Pygoscelis antarctica
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Estimated
population:
5 million breeding pairs |
| Breeding
Season: December - March |
| Distribution: Sub Antarctic and Antarctic islands, Antarctic Peninsula. |
Height: 68cm
- 27 inches
Weight: 4.5kg - 10lb |
 Called
Chinstrap penguins because of their characteristic band of dark feathers
under the chin that appears to be keeping their dark hats on, these are
the smallest of three species of Pygoscelis penguins.
They average about 4.5kg
and 68cm tall. According to the books they are particularly noisy and aggressive,
infiltrating and taking over Adélie colonies, though from what I saw of
them I would put them behind Adélies in aggression and volume.
This picture was taken in
a chinstrap colony during a spring snow-fall, most of the penguins had eggs
and many had chicks so the adults on the nests had to play the parental
role to the full protecting the young from the cold by laying down, and
occasionally getting up to shake off the accumulated snow.
It stopped snowing shortly
after this and the temperature being just above freezing, the snow melted
fairly quickly and so posed little or no danger to the young on this occasion.
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 After
the snow had finished the penguins stood up and shook themselves, the chicks
that had been sheltering under the parents were well and seem to be resenting
the fact that mum or dad had stood up and weren't keeping them quite so
snug any more!
This parent is awaiting the
return of its partner who will have been out at sea fishing for the krill
that these penguins feed almost exclusively on, catching it further
inshore than other penguin species. The parent that goes fishing fills themselves
up on food and then collects extra in their stomach to bring back and regurgitate
for the chicks.
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 Chinstraps
along with many other species of penguins return to the same colony each
year and often settle within a very short distance of the same nest site.
The nest is a very simple affair of a
pile of small stones, the main purpose being to separate it from other nests
and to raise it above the surrounding ground so that melt-water from snow
doesn't wet the eggs or chicks.
Small stones are in short supply in the
penguin colonies and so squabbles are commonplace and frequent, particularly
as penguins are experienced kleptomaniacs taking nesting material from any
other nest that is inadequately guarded.
These two chinstrap chicks are blissfully
unaware of the dramas that await them in the not too distant future.
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 Waiting
patiently for their next meal. Chinstrap chicks get fed about once a day
on average, with the returning parent bringing back about 300g of krill.
Fishing trips take the
adults around 20-30 kilometres from the colony, though distances of well
over 200 kilometres have been recorded. The young remain on the nest, looked
after in turns by each parent until they are large enough to maintain their
own body temperature and can wander around freely.
At this point they form a "crèche" with
other chinstrap penguin chicks, huddling together for protection against
the worst of the weather and predators. It also leaves both parents free
to go fishing so increasing the food supply for the rapidly growing chicks.
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 Some
species are prone to producing occasional individuals like this, known as
"leuchistic" forms or sometimes as "blonde" penguins.Not albinos as they do have pigment, but
not as much as the more normal members of the species. These penguins would
always hang around the breeding grounds with others of their species, though
I never saw one that had any success in breeding - incubating eggs, building
a nest etc. Maybe they were just a little too different for the other penguins.
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Antarctica Fact File Index
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