Tennessee Aquarium aviculturists have their hands full caring for a pair of macaroni penguin chicks. “These baby penguins are adorable,” said senior aviculturist Amy Graves. “They’re portly, but that’s great. We like to see vocal chicks that spend a good part of their day begging their parents for food.”
The first baby was born on May 24 to Hercules and Shamrock. The parents appear to be diligent, although they don’t share the same duties. “Hercules is the protector. He feeds the chick about 10 percent of the time,” said aviculturist Loribeth Aldrich. “But he constantly watches over the baby, even when mom is in the nest.” Fortunately, Aldrich says Shamrock has a strong feeding instinct that more than satisfies a vocal and hungry chick.
“Normally, chicks will beg and beg for food, but I’ve seen her feed this chick so full, he stops begging,” said Aldrich. Aquarium guests can see this baby penguin near the center of the exhibit inside an acrylic “playpen,” which keeps it from going into the water before it grows large enough to do so safely.
Paulie and Chaos, the macaroni pair that raised Pepper, the Aquarium’s first baby penguin, are in a backup area with their chick. Paulie was involved in a fracas with at least one other male early in the breeding season.
Aggressive behavior among males is not uncommon while they are building nests, so this couple was moved to a backup area for what was supposed to be a short time, said Aldrich. “When Chaos laid her second egg in the backup area, we decided they were comfortable enough to stay there until we saw what would happen with the egg. Now it looks like they’ll stay here until this chick is big enough to go on exhibit.”
Both parents get time with the rest of the colony to swim, and then they return to feed and tend to their chick.
Keepers will continue to monitor the progress of both chicks, as there are still many potential pitfalls for young birds to overcome. But if they continue to progress as quickly as they’ve started, Aquarium guests might see them outside the nests in a few weeks. “We’ll begin supervised walkabouts with the other penguins when their swim feathers grow in,” said Graves. “But even then, we’ll have to see how the other birds react to the newcomers.”
Gentoo penguins usually lag behind macaronis when it comes to nest-building and breeding, but the keepers are monitoring the progress of several pairs that have eggs. “We don’t know how many might be viable, but it’s possible we could have an even busier summer ahead,” said Graves.