The gentoos could be pretty entertaining at times, especially during feeding chases (where the juvenile chicks chase their parent) and learning to swim, but the sheathbills had a lot more character.
Some of the things they entertained us with included pooing on the heads of both my colleagues at Lockroy (and sparing me - I think they knew they had an ally!), knowing EXACTLY when a penguin was going to pass a ball of regurgitated food to its chick and flying at the pair to make the penguin drop the food, running off with or pecking anything we put down for a minute, and lots more besides. Although mutts constantly running up and down on the roof of the hut did keep us awake sometimes!
And our Lockroy sheathbills also had chicks - who could fail to like a bird whose chicks run up to you and start pecking at your boots whenever you venture near them?!
Of course a lot of tourists thought they were "pigeons"...
Sue
(PS. As sheathbills don't feature in the survey, I've given the seals a vote - fur seals are a pain on land but glorious underwater, Weddells sing beautifully, and ellies are just so laid back! Most of the time...)
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