Wild kids

Common name: Adelie Penguin
Scientific name: Pygoscelis adeliae Photo: R. Puddicombe/Nature Focus, Australian Museum

Birds

Adelie Penguin

Adelie Penguins are black and white diving birds that live in large colonies in Antarctica and the surrounding islands. They have short, strong, black beaks with an orange base and webbed feet with long toenails. They call with a yapping sound.

This Adelie Penguin is leaping out of the water onto an ice sheet.

Adelie Penguins dive beneath the water to search for crustaceans and fish. They catch their prey in their beak and swallow it whole underwater or they go to the surface to swallow it.

Adelie Penguins use a shallow hollow in the ground and line it with stones and pebbles to lay their eggs on. Females lay two white oval eggs. Both parents sit on the eggs for 30 to 40 days. When the eggs hatch the chicks are helpless and without feathers. The chicks from a colony stay on shore in a group while their parents hunt for their food.

Both parents feed the chicks until they have feathers and are ready to leave the colony. They can dive for food themselves when they are eight weeks old.