Birds, features and articles | Educational Science

Feb 22, 2021

There's a rare yellow penguin on South Georgia island, and biologists can't quite explain it

Black-and-white tuxedos may be the conventional dress code in the penguin world, but one dashing individual is breaking the status quo with an à la mode yellow coat. A wildlife photographer captured images of the rare penguin on a remote island in South Georgia in December 2019 and only recently...

Jun 24, 2021

Tasmanian devils wipe out colony of little penguins in major conservation backfire

Conservationists in Tasmania may be ruing the decision to introduce endangered Tasmanian devils to a small island, after a new survey revealed that the alien invaders have wiped out the entire colony of little penguins living there. Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii), the world's largest carnivorous marsupials, were introduced to Maria...

Aug 6, 2021

Melting sea ice could wipe out 98% of emperor penguins by the end of the century

Emperor penguins — the largest species of penguin on Earth — are unlikely to survive past the end of the century if current rates of greenhouse gas emissions and melting sea ice continue, according to researchers. A new study by an international team of penguin experts has revealed that 70%...

Sep 21, 2021

Dozens of endangered penguins killed after being stung in the eyes by swarming honeybees

In a bizarre incident, 64 endangered African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) have been killed in South Africa after being stung in and around their eyes by Cape honeybees (Apis mellifera capensis). Rangers from the South African National Parks organization (SANParks) discovered 63 of the 64 dead penguins among a colony near...

Nov 16, 2021

Lost' Adélie penguin wanders nearly 2,000 miles off-course, ends up on New Zealand beach

An Adélie penguin that washed up on a rocky New Zealand beach — nearly 2,000 miles (3,218 kilometers) from its home in Antarctica — last week, has been released back into the wild, experts say. Nicknamed Pingu by locals, after the claymation children's cartoon, the disoriented bird was found waddling...

Jan 20, 2022

Spellbinding new 'selfie' video captures penguin feasting on giant sardine ball

A spellbinding new selfie video captures a Gentoo penguin feasting on a giant ball of sardines and soaring through the sea off Argentina. Gentoo penguins normally feed near the seabed, but this new footage from the Beagle Channel in southern Argentina proves they dine on shoals of sardines near the...

Jan 24, 2022

Here's why a new penguin colony in Antarctica is cause for concern

Scientists have discovered a previously unknown colony of gentoo penguins in one of the southernmost spots these waddling birds have ever been spotted. The discovery is a cause for concern, according to the researchers, who say that climate change is expanding the range of this temperate, non-ice-loving species of penguin....

Feb 1, 2022

Same-sex penguins hatch their first chick at New York zoo

A pair of same-sex penguins hatched their first chick at Rosamond Gifford Zoo in New York and the parents are caring for it like pros. The two male Humboldt penguins (Spheniscus humboldti) named Elmer and Lima were given an egg to incubate because the egg's biological parents have a history...

May 17, 2022

5,000 of the world's smallest penguins waddle onto Australian beach in record-breaking parade

As dusk fell over Australia's Phillip Island last week, thousands of tiny black-and-white birds participated in the largest penguin parade seen on the island since record-keeping began in the 1960s, with more than 5,200 little penguins (Eudyptula minor) crossing the beach in a single night. Phillip Island — known as...

May 19, 2022

Meet the robot keeping an eye on emperor penguins in Antarctica

A yellow robot named ECHO is helping scientists in Antarctica to keep tabs on some of the continent's penguin residents. At Antarctica's Atka Bay, researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) are monitoring a colony of about 20,000 emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) with the help of a hybrid rover...

Jun 17, 2022

Hundreds of the world's smallest penguins have mysteriously washed up dead. What killed them?

More than 500 of the world's smallest penguins have mysteriously washed up dead on beaches across New Zealand over the past couple of months. Experts aren't exactly sure what has been killing off such a large number of the adorable seabirds, but they suspect that climate change may have played...

Jul 29, 2022

Over 60 million years ago, penguins abandoned flight for swimming. Here’s how.

Penguins are perhaps best known for being flightless birds whose wings help them fly through frigid Antarctic waters. But penguins lost their ability to fly and instead became streamlined swimmers some 60 million years ago, long before the Antarctic ice sheet formed — and researchers have now revealed how that...

Sep 2, 2022

This little penguin can waddle easily again thanks to his custom-made boots

Lucas, a San Diego Zoo penguin with a chronic condition called bumblefoot that makes walking painful, can now waddle and hop with ease again thanks to a new pair of orthopedic boots. 'Bumblefoot' is a word we use for pododermatitis in birds, meaning inflammation of the skin of the foot,...

Sep 5, 2022

Are penguins really monogamous?

There's something sweet — perhaps even romantic — about penguin courtship. After spending months at sea, hunting for fish and swimming in the iciest waters, female Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) toboggan to the same breeding grounds, year after year. Waddling through a bar scene of trumpeting, preening males, they ignore...

Oct 12, 2022

In 'bizarre behavior,' New Zealand penguins lay one egg, reject it, and then lay another. Now, scientists know why.

Researchers have cracked the case of why erect-crested penguins in New Zealand reject their first-laid eggs. These penguins, which mate in monogamous pairs, lay an egg only to abandon it in favor of a second egg, which they then incubate until it hatches. Laying eggs is energy intensive, and so...