Notice the island upon which the penguins nest does not appear black as the rock around it does. Since this is a frozen environment and there is nothing to cause penguin poop to decay (other than weathering/erosion from wind) it has accumulated for 1000's of years, and that's the tan looking stuff you see on the rock.
The rock that you sticking above the ice in the photo above has been the nesting grounds for Adelie penguins for 1000's of years. Changes in the penguin population can be indicators of the health and well being of the Antarctic Region, so understanding penguins is important to scientists.
Each year when the chicks are hatched (sometime around mid December) several hundred chicks have a band placed around their left wing with a unique number stamped on it.
Penguins from the colony are tagged when they are chicks in an effort to monitor their activities as an adult.
So what I've been doing with my time here at Cape Royds is finding penguins with a band and recording their location within the colony. The colony is broken up into a number of sub-colonies (smaller groups of penguins), and scientist do not yet understand how these sub-colonies within the main colony are established or why the penguins join specific sub-colonies. In addition to which sub-colony the tagged penguin is in, we record whether or not they have a mate, are they on their nest or standing next to it, does the nest have any eggs (most penguin pairs have two eggs), and what is the quality of their nest.
This is obviously a penguin pair otherwise they would not be standing this close together without fighting. Since male and female penguins share nesting duties equally we don't know which is the male and which is the female. The best way to determine the sex of the penguin is to observe it during the actual mating process. You can also see the volcano Mount Erabus venting in the background.
An Adelie penguin tending to its eggs. Notice how this penguin has 2 eggs in the nest. Also notice what the nest is made of … small rocks. Any ideas why they build their nest of rocks? Read below to find out.
The Adelie penguins construct their nest of small rocks. They run around and pick up the rocks using their beaks and bring the rocks back to the nest location. The nests are made of rocks primarily because that's the only thing available. There's no grass, leaves, or wood or anything of the sort for nest construction. But the rocks are quite adequate. Meltwater during the summer can be an issue, so the small stones keep the eggs up off the ground and out of the water. In addition there are air pockets between the small stones that insulate the egg from the ground preventing heat loss.
Finding a tagged bird with an egg in the nest
When we find a tagged penguin with an egg in their nest, we want to track it, so that means the nest gets a fancy yellow "mailbox" number and tag. It's pretty easy if the nest is out near the edge of the sub-colony, but sometimes they're in the middle of the colony, and getting to the interior of the sub-colony isn't easy. We have to be very careful not to disturb the nests so it means you tip-toe in and reach down to hammer the marker in next to the nest. Penguins are very territorial and can be aggressive, so the entire time every penguin within reach of me is pecking at my hands, arms, and legs. You have to be extremely careful not to harm the penguins while hammering in the marker. When placing a marker I'd let them peck at my hand, and as soon as they released my hand I tapped the stake.
Tim Spuck (me) placing a marker next to the nest of a tagged bird with a new egg. As you can see the penguins were not very happy, nor were they about to give up claim to their territory!