The Great Penguin Rescue: Saving the African Penguins
With feathered coats still shiny and wet from the surf the adults waddle ashore on Robben Island off the coast of Cape Town Parents will feed their chicks and huddle with them in their nest overnight Then in the morning the adults will head back to the ocean to catch more fish another day's meal for themselves and their chicks The young female chick moans and peeps as adults pass by A few adults pause and bray at her None claim her Check out the bristly inside of the penguin's mouth Its tongue has toothlike barbs that throat help push food down its
Look closely and you'll see a few bits of twigs under the chick Penguin parents collect twigs and grasses to build their nests The female chick waits for her parents until the path from the beach is empty Then she wiggles back inside her family's nest Snug inside she listens to the night sounds and sleeps Sometimes parents have to travel farther than usual to find enough to eat and they spend the night on the ocean But that night and another day passes and the her little female is still waiting for her parents to come back and feed
When they're not hunting nesting penguins guard their chicks in the nest Their scaly feet give off body heat so the birds don't get too warm in the sunshine African penguin chicks need to eat nearly every day to grow up strong enough to swim and catch fish for themselves So when a second day and night passes without any food the female chick is very hungry By the third evening when her parents still don't return she wanders away from the nest peeping fed and moaning begging to be
At three months old the female chick is close to fledging when she'll shed her fluffy down coat and grow feathers Until she does though she can't swim and survive catch fish for herself She's on her own and needs help or she won't
