New study reveals over two decades of penguins' diets

Gentoo penguin chicks. Photo credit: BAS.

ANTARCTICA – The longest and most comprehensive study to date of what penguins eat has been published this month in the journal Marine Biology. It examines the diets of gentoo penguins at Bird Island, South Georgia over a 22-year period and is part of a project investigating the Southern Ocean ecosystem and its response to change.

Penguin parents forage at sea returning to feed their chicks every day. The research team, based at British Antarctic Survey (BAS), found that between 1989 and 2010 gentoo penguins ate approximately equal amounts of crustaceans (mainly Antarctic krill) and fish.

It's a bird eat bird world for South Georgia's macaroni penguins

Macaroni penguins walking across
the weighbridge to their colony.
Photo credit: BAS

SOUTH GEORGIA - More than 10 years of data have revealed new information about the survival rates of macaroni penguins on the South Atlantic island of South Georgia, helping scientists better understand the threats they are under.

A research team, led by scientists from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), used the data collected from tiny electronic tags placed on the penguins' backs to explore year-to-year survival rates and uncover the biggest pressures on the population.

Their findings, published this week in the Journal of Animal Ecology, showed that one of the biggest threats the penguins face is predation by other seabirds.