There are many varieties of penguins, from the largest emperor species, which is about four feet tall, to the smallest species, which is about one foot tall. Rockhoppers are about two feet tall. They don't live on big ice fields; they live on the cliffs of islands in the Atlantic Ocean near the tip of South America.
These penguins have white bodies, but their heads, backs and flippers are black. Their heads have a row of yellow feathers below the scalp that stands out on each side. Their beaks, short legs and webbed feet are all pink.
These penguins avoid sheltered bays and beaches for nest sites and prefer bare shores exposed to the winds or bare areas atop rocky cliffs where the winds are even stronger. Nests are only shallow scrapings in the ground and extremely close together—thousands of them in colonies called rookeries. A colony sometimes makes an awful racket with their sharp shrieks. One visitor said they sounded like thousands of rusty wheelbarrows being pushed too fast.
These unique birds swim to more northerly islands as winter draws near. But they are not gone for long. The males return first to claim territories for their nests, and the females arrive two weeks later. Just one egg is laid in the simple nest, and both parents take turns incubating it until the little chick breaks out of its shell as a blackish and nearly blind baby. After three weeks, the chick can look out for itself while the parents are off getting food for it. It leaves the nest for good when about eight weeks old.
When the parents are both away, the baby penguins are particularly exposed to a vicious enemy—a big, dark gull called skua. These stay around the colony as continual threats, every once in a while swooping low with head stretched out to snatch up an unguarded egg or exposed chick. The giant petrel is also quick to capture an unattended chick. It stealthily makes its way into the colony and carries away a victim, accompanied by the shrieks of all nearby rockhoppers, which are unable to do anything about it.
Next week we will look closely at the adult rockhopper’s activities in the water and learn how it makes its way back home.
Isn't it nice to know that these unusual birds, so far away from people, are always under the watchful eye of their Creator? He has fitted them well for the peculiar kind of life they lead. They are part of His creation, in which He has great pleasure, but His greatest pleasure is in men and women, boys and girls, who have thanked Him for His loving and gracious care and know Him as their Saviour.
(to be continued)
ML-02/17/2008