Called Chinstrap penguins because of their characteristic
band of dark feathers under the chin that appears
to be keeping their dark hats on, these are
the smallest of three species of Pygoscelis
penguins. They average about 4.5kg and 68cm tall,
according to the books they are particularly noisy
and aggressive, infiltrating and taking over Adelie
colonies, though from what I saw of them I would
put them behind Adélies in aggression and volume.
This
picture was taken in a chinstrap colony during a
spring snow-fall, all of the penguins at least had
eggs and many had chicks so the adults on the nests
had to play the parental role to the full protecting
the young from the cold by laying down and occasionally
getting up to shake off the accumulated snow. It
stopped snowing shortly after this and the temperature
being just above freezing, the snow melted fairly
quickly and so posed little or no danger to the
young on this occasion.
Photo; ©
Paul Ward - Pentax equipment, 100mm lens, 35mm film,
K64.
This picture may not be copied or used
in any manner without prior written permission.
