Jean Pennycook Fun Penguin Pictures

These slides are pictures of penguins being penguins and each one has it’s own story. All pictures are Adélie Penguins and were taken in the Ross Sea colonies of Antarctica. For more pictures or information on Adélie Penguins go to our website:

An aerial view of the Adélie Penguin breeding colony at Cape Royds, Antarctica.

At home on an ice floe

These are very inquisitive birds, and want to explore any new object (even me) that comes into the colony.

Penguins use their mouth to carry rocks back to the nest.

Dry head Wet head

Getting into the water is always dangerous. Leopard seals hide under the ice and wait for the penguins to jump in. There is safety in numbers so usually they go in groups.

To get on the ice, penguins have to swim fast and ‘fly’ out of the water. This ice was only 3 ft high and the penguin made the leap easily. We have seen them leap as high as 6 ft. No they don’t always make it, sometimes they hit the ledge and fall back in the water.

Sometimes white feathers show up in the oddest places.

Adélie Penguins aren’t always black and white. We occasionally see albino chicks. However, I have never seen an adult albino.

An albino chick newly hatched.

Another color variation of Adélie Penguin. We call this one Blondie.

Dark brown color variation.

This one we call salt and pepper.

A breeding pair of South Polar Skuas who are tag-teaming an isolated Adélie nest. One Skua will distract the penguin, the other will snatch the egg. In this case they were successful.

Occasionally the tag-teaming is reversed. In this case the penguins scared the Skua off it’s nest and then kept it off until another Skua came and stole the egg. Penguins do not eat the eggs of other birds, but we were happy to see this small pay-back event.

An Adélie Penguin chick just about as big as they get. The next step for this chick is to molt to it’s adult plumage.

A chick in the process of molting to the adult plumage.

Every year adult penguins molt, loosing their old feathers and growing new ones. This adult Adélie Penguin is beginning the process.

To get between ice floes, Adélie penguins sometimes leap. Usually they make it, but we have watched many attempts with the bird landing in the water.

A 3 egg nest. Adélie Penguins lay only 2, one must have rolled in from another nest. None of these eggs hatched as the adult could not keep them all warm at the same time.

The egg froze to the feathers of this bird. It will not hatch as it is exposed to the cold air. A few minutes after the picture was taken the penguin laid down on the rocks and the egg broke.

The chick is just beginning to crack the shell. We call this peeping.

A chick just moments after breaking the shell.

It doesn’t take long and the chick is a fuzzy ball of warm downy feathers.

First meal.

Penguin tracks in the snow.

Penguin tracks all over the place. The wide tracks are penguins who are sliding on their bellies. Called tobogganing, it takes less energy and they can go faster than walking.

Strong penguin feet, good for climbing on rocks and walking on ice.

Adélie Penguin eggs are laid about 2 days apart. This chick is 2 weeks old and the second egg is still in the nest, but will not hatch.

When storms hit, the guarding adult will turn it’s back to the wind protecting the chick from the cold and snow.

Adult penguins create a warm dry place for the chicks during a storm.

Dirty, hungry penguins leaving the colony headed to the ocean for food. They have been sitting on the nest for a long time. Clean penguins full of food returning to the colony to relieve their mates.

A crack opened up near the breeding colony which made finding food a lot easier for these penguins.

Although they can hold their breath for several minutes, Adélie Penguins need to come up for air. Notice in this picture they come out of the water when they swim to breath through their mouths.

If you just stand still penguins will come up to you, they are very curious.

Yes, these penguins sleep with their eyes closed.

Adélie Penguins love the ice.

Other Powerpoint presentations for you classroom: Introduction to the Polar regions, Why is Antarctica so cold? Introduction to Adélie Penguins, Adélie Penguins march into the classroom Penguin Adaptations, This is a harsh continent Adélie Penguin Behavior, Good manners are always in style Penguin Predation and Competition, Life is tough for an Adélie Penguin Adélie Penguins Cope with Global Climate Change Did You Know, How researchers know what they know Penguin Quandaries, Can you answer these mysteries Fun pictures about Adélie Penguins Go to The education page.