Damroy Point, Wienke Island
To people money may matter. To penguins it's all in the stones. They steal them, they sneak them, they pilfer them; sometimes they even get their own. For penguins rocks and small stones matter. They need them to build their nests high to get the eggs out of the snow and to let the water run around the nest, not through it. Rocks keep the nest dry, and success or failure may be in the number of rocks a pair has gathered to elevate the nest above the wet ground. Nests that don't have enough rocks can flood, killing eggs and small chicks. Rocks matter.
Today we visited Damoy Point, Jougla Point and Port Lockroy. At all three places we saw breeding gentoo penguins guarding their nests sites perched on a pile of rocks. The number of stones in a nest site is impressive, especially when you consider that rocks of the right size aren't readily available unless stolen them from a neighbor. One especially large gentoo nest had 3680 rocks. One at Damoy Point, like the one pictured, had 1532 rocks. As we watched this penguin sit incubating his eggs another penguin was stealing rocks from the back of the nest. Penguin wealth may be calculated in the number of rocks under the belly.
To people money may matter. To penguins it's all in the stones. They steal them, they sneak them, they pilfer them; sometimes they even get their own. For penguins rocks and small stones matter. They need them to build their nests high to get the eggs out of the snow and to let the water run around the nest, not through it. Rocks keep the nest dry, and success or failure may be in the number of rocks a pair has gathered to elevate the nest above the wet ground. Nests that don't have enough rocks can flood, killing eggs and small chicks. Rocks matter.
Today we visited Damoy Point, Jougla Point and Port Lockroy. At all three places we saw breeding gentoo penguins guarding their nests sites perched on a pile of rocks. The number of stones in a nest site is impressive, especially when you consider that rocks of the right size aren't readily available unless stolen them from a neighbor. One especially large gentoo nest had 3680 rocks. One at Damoy Point, like the one pictured, had 1532 rocks. As we watched this penguin sit incubating his eggs another penguin was stealing rocks from the back of the nest. Penguin wealth may be calculated in the number of rocks under the belly.
