The Adelie penguin is a member of the genus Pygoscelis, which contains two other members. The Adelie is the "classic" penguin one thinks about since it most resembles that "little guy in a tuxedo." The color banding of the Adelie penguin is duotone black and white. It is quite easily distinguished from its two closest relatives.
Adelie penguins average around 8.5 pounds and are on the shorter end when compared to other penguins since they average around 15 inches. The male and the female can be distinguished only by behavioural and temporal cues during the mating season.
The ecology of the Adelie penguin is fairly restricted to the continent of Antarctica or at most the peripheral regions of the periantarctic islands. They remain in this locale during the entire year and return to seasonal breeding grounds. So, for all intents and purposes, the Adelies do migrate. It specifically inhabits and breeds around Balleny Islands, Peter I Oy, Shetland Islands, South Orkney Islands and the South Sandwich Islands.
The diet of the Adelie is unremarkable; it consists of small shoaling animals, small fish and various crustaceans. It is preyed upon by the McCormick skua (chicks, eggs), the sheathbill (chicks, eggs), the Giant petrel (chicks, eggs) and the leopard seal. Taking into consideration their feeding supply and predation, predicted population density is about 2.5 million breeding pairs making it a stable population. |
