Antipodes Crested Penguins
Antipodes Islands, Southern Ocean (49.7°S) · Antarctica · polar
About this place
Investigate Eudyptes sclateri obligate brood reduction, egg-size dimorphism, and Furious Fifties foraging ecology.
For kids: Meet spiky-browed golden-crested penguins hopping onto wild volcanic boulders in the Southern Ocean!
Antipodes Crested Penguins · 360° Habitat Camp
What to look for
- Volcanic surf-landing boulders — Eudyptes sclateri colony platform. Centre the wave-swept volcanic boulder terrace hosting penguin nest scrapes
- Wind-sculpted tussock slopes — Poa litorosa subantarctic grassland. Locate the peat-forming tussock slopes supporting endemic Antipodes parakeets
- Furious Fifties Southern Ocean swell — Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Scan the unobstructed Southern Ocean fetch driven by the Circumpolar Current
Source: Davis et al. (2022), PLOS ONE — Resolving the 60-year mystery of first-egg loss and egg-size dimorphism in Eudyptes sclateri.
Ask together: How can a bird with short legs and no flying wings bounce up steep coastal rocks better than a person?
Field quiz
Kids' question: How can erect-crested penguins show how they feel to their neighbors?
- Raising and lowering their bright yellow feather eyebrows!
- Changing shell colors like chameleons
- Waving long furry tails
Answer
Raising and lowering their bright yellow feather eyebrows!
Adults' question: Why do researchers hypothesize Eudyptes sclateri lays a small first egg while still retaining ocean-foraging momentum?
- Yolk synthesis begins at sea during arduous return migration, constraining the first egg's mass
- The first egg is laid exclusively to feed skuas
- Males lay the smaller egg while females lay the larger
- Calcium only dissolves in warm water
Answer
Yolk synthesis begins at sea during arduous return migration, constraining the first egg's mass
360° photo: Discott, CC BY-SA 4.0
See it live: Live check: Antipodes Erect-Crested Penguins
- By day
- Erect-crested penguins, rockhopper penguins, brown skuas & Antipodes parakeets One of Earth's most remote solar-satellite wildlife cameras—streaming from uninhabited UNESCO World Heritage Antipodes Island.
- By night
- Roosting penguin colony & roaring Southern Ocean surf in the dark Colonial vocal choruses persist after sunset as foraging mates commute ashore through kelp beds.
Other language: Русский