Adélie Penguins and Their Chicks
February 15th, 2010 at 4:48 pm (AST) by Jake RichterIt is the latter part of summer in the Antarctic now, and that means that penguin chicks are getting to be old enough to head off on their own soon. At Red Rocks Ridge we found a wide range of chick ages, determined by the amount of down the chicks still had on them.
With Adélie penguins, you can tell the different between adults and larger chicks by whether they have black under the chin or white. Fully black chins are adults or nearly so, while white chins indicate youth.
Below are a number of pictures of Adélie chicks in various states of molting.
A juvenile Adelie penguin nearing the end of its molting
A group of Adelie penguins
Two juvenile Adelies in different stages of losing their baby fuzz
Close-up of a juvenile Adelie penguin
Juvenile Adelies are not very clean - just like juvenile human boys, and likewise gawky
Elvis has entered the colony
An Adelie adult and a chick have an argument, while another chick looks on
Tags: Adelie penguins, Antarctica, chicks, Marguerite Bay, Red Rocks Ridge
February 15th, 2010 at 5:04 pm
How special to be so close to them!