TERRY’S PENGUIN BLOG

3 November 2012

Shall I tell you something lovely about Adélie penguins? They have one rather romantic habit. A boy penguin will woo his girl with a gift: a carefully chosen, special pebble. How could she fail to be impressed? Not only this, but he’ll also put on a fine display, throwing his head back, puffing out his chest and making loud braying noises—which, of course, if you are a female penguin, is totally irresistible.

With any luck he’ll also have a shiny new nest already built by the time she returns from the sea. The pebble gift, in fact, represents more than loyalty and love. Pebbles are the most valuable currency right now, because they’re the key nest-building material. The penguins are not above theft, either. We’ve witnessed a few comical instances of penguins nicking pebbles from one another’s nests when backs are turned.

Many of last year’s couples are now joyfully reunited. On the whole, the Adélies are a faithful bunch. Occasionally, however, there’s an issue.

For example, here’s a penguin who interests us. Adélies generally look pretty similar, but you’ll see from the photo why we always recognize this one, even from a distance. Instead of the standard white chest and tummy, with black covering everything else, he’s almost entirely black. Just a few paler feathers in a patch under his chin. His mate, a normal black-and-whiter, was with him for the last four seasons. But where is she now? Did she fail to get through the Antarctic winter? Was she eaten by a leopard seal? Or do we have a rare case of penguin infidelity? We’ll never know. Whatever the reason, Sooty (we call him Sooty) is sitting there on his nest, very, very alone.