The Adelie Penguin

http://www.penguintag.org/species_index_adelie.htm

The Adelie penguin is the most common in Antarctica and it s also the smallest that is living in Antarctica. They are about 70 cm tall and weigh about 4 kg. The Adelie penguin was named after a French explorers wife 1830s. The Adelie penguins are one of stiff-tailed penguins. They have long feathers they drag on the ground when they walk. What makes them easy to identify is the white ring around there eyes. A another way that they have a white belly and a black head. They are very good swimmers and they can jump on to they land when they are close to it. Adeile penguins are not endangered or threatened. There are an estimated 2,465,000 pairs of Adelie penguins.

Adelie penguins are found by the coast of Antarctica. They are one of the only two penguins that bread on Antarctica.

The Adelie penguin predators are the Killer whales and the leopard seals. Leopard seals lurk near the rookeries. But the Adelie penguins know how to beat them. First they go in the water in big groups next thy swim like mad to get to the closest icebergs and ride for hours. Seabirds, sheathbills, and petrels can eat the chicks and eggs.

The Adelie penguins are very friendly. They live big colonies. The Adelie penguin gets great reserves of energy as subcutaneous fat.

Adelie penguins build nests out of pebbles on the rocky beaches of Antarctica. After they bond and mate the female lays two eggs in the nest. Then the male keeps the eggs warm by lying on the nest or by holding it by the tops of its feet. While that happens the female goes to feed but she returns in three weeks to help the chicks. Often only one chick will survive. The Adelie penguin's chicks grow the fastest of all penguins.

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