Photo by
Yan Ropert-Coudert   ( http://www.penguins.cl/adelie-penguins.htm )

Adelie Penguins
Scientific Name:  Pygoscelis adeliae 

The Adelie penguins have simple black and white feathers that offer protection from animals that hunt the penguin for food. Young Adelie penguins have white chins.

The male is larger than the female, especially the bill. The adults can be about 70 cm tall. They weigh about 5 kg, the males will weigh a little more and females weigh a little less.

The Adelie penguins spend most of their time at sea feeding. When they are not at sea feeding, they are in their colony where their eggs are laid and then hatch. The mother and father penguin take turns caring for the chicks. The parents will take care of the chicks for 3 months.

Like most penguins, they appear sluggish on land. When they are in the water they are very good swimmers. They can dive deep in the water and can stay under water for 5 minutes or more.

Adelie penguins build a simple but rough nest of stones. They will lay one or two eggs. The eggs weigh about 100 grams and take about 35 days to hatch.  The parents take turns, about 12 days each, caring for the eggs. The chicks stay in the nest for about 22 days. Then, the chicks will join with other chicks to form a group called a crèche. The chicks have only black feathers. When the chicks lose their black baby feathers, called molting, the new adult feathers grow in and they will look like their parents except for a white chin. Then about 60 days after hatching, they will go to sea on their own to hunt for food.

Adelie penguins like to eat a little sea animal called krill, fish, and in the winter, they like to eat squid.

Some animals hunt the Adelie penguin for food. Leopard seals and killer whales hunt the penguins when at sea. When on land, the Adelie penguins are hunted by birds called Giant Petrals and another bird called skua.