penguins

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Nasty Bird Flu Hits Antarctic Mammals
An Unwanted First
in Nasty Bird Flu

An Unwanted First in Nasty Bird Flu

It's been found in sub-Antarctic animals for the first time

(Newser) - An unfortunate milestone has been logged in the continuing spread of a lethal form of bird flu, which has wreaked havoc from continent to continent since it first appeared in 2020. For the first time, the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) strain of H5N1 has been confirmed in sub-Antarctic mammals,...

These Penguins Are Micro-Nap Masters
These Penguins
Sleep a Few
Seconds
at a Time
new study

These Penguins Sleep a Few Seconds at a Time

Chinstrap penguins are micro-nap masters while guarding their young

(Newser) - It's a challenge for all new parents: Getting enough sleep while keeping a close eye on their newborns. For some penguins, it means thousands of mini-catnaps a day, researchers have discovered. Chinstrap penguins in Antarctica need to guard their eggs and chicks around-the-clock in crowded, noisy colonies. So they...

US Adds Emperor Penguins to Threatened Species List

Designation is a 'call to action,' says director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service

(Newser) - Emperor penguins, the species seen in March of the Penguins, are marching toward extinction due to habitat loss caused by climate change, scientists warn. The birds, the biggest species of penguin, were listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act on Tuesday, the New York Times reports. The...

Penguin That Was Walking on His Ankles Gets Help

Lucas at San Diego Zoo is outfitted with orthopedic footwear

(Newser) - A member of the San Diego Zoo's African penguin colony has been fitted with orthopedic footwear to help it deal with a degenerative foot condition. The 4-year-old penguin named Lucas has lesions on his feet due to a chronic condition known as bumblefoot, which covers a range of avian...

Dozens of Penguins Stung to Death by Bees

63 endangered African penguins were found Friday on a South African beach

(Newser) - More than five dozen African penguins have met a sad end in South Africa, in what bird conservationists say is a most uncommon incident. AFP reports that 63 of the endangered birds were found dead Friday on Boulders Beach in Simon's Town, a suburb of Cape Town, and their...

Schoolkids Discover New Species of Penguin
Children's
Field Trip
Yields New
Penguin Species
new study

Children's Field Trip Yields New Penguin Species

Kairuku waewaeroa lived eons ago in New Zealand

(Newser) - The Hamilton Junior Naturalist Club lived up to its name—its school-aged members are credited with discovering a new species of giant penguin. The discovery of the fossil actually occurred back in 2006 in New Zealand, but researchers didn't identify the new species until this week in the Journal ...

Tasmanian Devils Wipe Out Penguin Colony

They were introduced to Maria Island as insurance against extinction

(Newser) - A plan to protect Tasmanian devils from extinction came at a hellish price for penguins and other birds on an Australian island. Researchers say that after a small number of the carnivorous marsupials were shipped to Maria Island, east of Tasmania, in 2012, the island's population of 3,000...

Same-Sex Penguins Have Their Own Baby Chick

Electra and Viola are now parents

(Newser) - Meet Electra and Viola: The female penguin couple is making headlines after welcoming a newly hatched chick to the world, CBS News reports. Seems they adopted an egg from other penguins—really, it was given to them—and incubated and hatched it as their own. According to NBC News , the...

Penguins' First Home: Not Antarctica
Penguins' First Home
Isn't What We Thought
NEW STUDY

Penguins' First Home Isn't What We Thought

Researchers trace origin to Australia, New Zealand, not Antarctica, some 22M years ago

(Newser) - Penguins have had quite the journey, from Australia some 22 million years ago to modern-day Antarctica, according to a new study. With help from institutions around the world, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, analyzed blood and tissue samples from 18 species of penguins, finding that the animals originated...

Emperor Penguin Poop Reveals Hidden Colonies

On the downside, all are in fragile areas

(Newser) - Good news following a massive breeding failure of emperor penguins: There are 20% more colonies in Antarctica than previously known. They were discovered thanks to patches of penguin poop so large they could be seen from space. The red-brown guano left behind on ice, captured in high-resolution images from a...

At Closed Aquarium, Penguins Take a Stroll
At Closed Aquarium,
Penguins Take a Stroll
video

At Closed Aquarium, Penguins Take a Stroll

With humans barred, Chicago's Shedd Aquarium lets them wander

(Newser) - Chicago's Shedd Aquarium has provided a rare bright spot amid the coronavirus news: Video of penguins strolling around the joint, reports CNN . The museum is closed to the public for the near future, so the penguins' caretakers let them go on what they called a "field trip" to...

Researchers Listen to Penguins, Hear a First
Researchers Listen
to Penguins, Hear a First
new study

Researchers Listen to Penguins, Hear a First

Traits such as shorter syllables found for first time outside primates

(Newser) - When it comes to language, penguins and humans appear to have a thing or two in common. Researchers studied the calls of African penguins and found that their vocal patterns follow two distinct patterns that until now have never been seen outside primates, reports the Ecologist . First, the penguins' most...

Catastrophe Drowned Thousands of Penguin Chicks

Emperor colony has suffered total breeding failure

(Newser) - The second-biggest breeding ground for Antarctica's emperor penguins is now almost completely deserted after a 2016 catastrophe, researchers say. Satellite photos show that the Halley Bay colony in the Weddell Sea, where around 8% of the world's emperor penguins normally breed, disappeared almost overnight, the BBC reports. Researchers...

For Sale: One of the Falkland Islands
For Sale: One of
the Falkland Islands

For Sale: One of the Falkland Islands

Name your price, because the sellers aren't sure

(Newser) - Have a huge affinity for penguins? A family in Wales is accepting offers on one of the Falkland Islands, where tens of thousands of penguins from five species run amuck. An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area, as well as the third largest offshore island in the archipelago at 20 miles...

A Marine Park Was Abandoned in January. Its Animals Remain

Photos of dolphin, penguins spark public outcry at Japan's Inubosaki Marine Park Aquarium

(Newser) - A solitary bottlenose dolphin swims in a small pool enclosed by a rusty railing. Not far away, dust-covered penguins wander over chunks of concrete and other debris. This has been life at Japan's Inubosaki Marine Park Aquarium since January when its owner abandoned it, citing a decline in visitors....

Biggest King Penguin Colony Sees a Catastrophic Drop

Population at remote French island falls 90% in 3 decades

(Newser) - The last time scientists visited the remote French island of Île aux Cochons in the Indian Ocean, they found more than 2 million king penguins, including 500,000 breeding pairs. That was 1982, and it gave the island the distinction of being the largest such colony in the world....

Secret Colony of Penguins Given Away by Own Poop
Scientists Find
Huge, Secret
Colony of Penguins
NEW STUDY

Scientists Find Huge, Secret Colony of Penguins

'Supercolony' of 1.5M Adélie penguins on Antarctic Peninsula is a major find

(Newser) - More than 1 million penguins who've been hiding in a remote part of Antarctica were recently discovered thanks to images taken from space and ... their own poop. A study in the Scientific Reports journal reveals the Danger Islands find of more than 750,000 pairs of Adélie penguins—...

Ancient Penguins Were Much Bigger Than Modern Ones

Kumimanu biceae stretched out to nearly 6 feet while swimming

(Newser) - Fossils from New Zealand have revealed a giant penguin that was as big as a grown man, roughly the size of the captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins, per the AP . The creature was slightly shorter in length and about 20 pounds heavier than the official stats for hockey star Sidney...

In Colony Where 36K Penguins Mated, Just 2 Chicks Survived

'Catastrophic breeding event' strikes Adélie penguin colony in Antarctica

(Newser) - About 18,000 breeding pairs of Adélie penguins mated on Petrels Island in Antarctica this year. Two chicks survived. Two. "It’s more like ‘Tarantino does Happy Feet,' with dead penguin chicks strewn across a beach in Adélie Land," the Guardian quotes the head...

There Are Millions More Penguins Than We Thought

Scientists undercounted the Adelie penguins on Antarctica by 3.6M

(Newser) - In a rare bit of good news in the animal conservation world, scientists say they vastly lowballed the penguin population on Antarctica. The off-base estimate pertains to Adelie penguins—that's the adorable Happy Feet variety—and it turns out there are 3.6 million more of them than previously...

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