Monday, March 2, 2009

Penguins

Well, this is definitely interesting. We all learned how much life sucks for the Emperors in March of the Penguins, but who knew this?

The female Adelie penguin, desperate to obtain the stones she uses to build her nest, visits the nest of a bachelor Adelie, goes through the entire courtship routine, and mates with him. But once the two have had sex, the female collects the stones she came for as a sort of payment, and waddles back home to her actual mate, who’s been keeping the nest nice and warm for her return! She then stays with him for the rest of her life. Sometimes, especially cunning females engage in the courtship ritual, minus the mating part, grab the rocks, and dash home. Luckily, the males of this species, unlike humans, do not seem to bear a grudge.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Thank you for this interesting tidbit; I have new found admiration for lady penguins. They are quite clever.

Jimbo said...

Wow, that so cool! LOVE IT!! I've always loved penguins.

Unknown said...

How very American.
On the other hand, how very Gabor sisters