Short Note: Increase in feeding by the tick, Ixodes uriae, on Adélie penguins during a prolonged summer

Ixodes uriae White is the only tick species found in Antarctica, and in our research area at Palmer Station it feeds predominantly on Adélie penguins. At the beginning of the summer the ticks leave their off-host aggregation sites, feed on penguins, then subsequently return to their off-host habitats, where they remain until the next summer (Benoit et al. 2007). These ticks have been implicated as a competent vector for Borrelia spirochetes (Olsen et al. 1993) and tick-borne viruses (Nuttall 1984), and are thought to impact development, cause anaemia, alter the thermoregulation, and even lead to the death of penguins (Gauthier-Clerc et al. 1998, Mangin et al. 2003). In this report, we note a striking increase in the number of fed ticks found near Adélie penguin rookeries in 2007 compared to 2006, suggesting that the longer and warmer summer of 2007 may have permitted more ticks to find their hosts. High levels of parasitism could be detrimental to the already declining Adélie penguin populations near Palmer Station (Fraser & Patterson 1997).

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The interaction between island geomorphology and environmental parameters drives Adélie penguin breeding phenology on neighboring islands near Palmer Station, Antarctica

Ecology and Evolution ◽

10.1002/ece3.5481 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (16) ◽

pp. 9334-9349 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Megan A. Cimino ◽

Donna L. Patterson‐Fraser ◽

Sharon Stammerjohn ◽

William R. Fraser

Keyword(s):

Environmental Parameters ◽

Adélie Penguin ◽

Breeding Phenology ◽

Adelie Penguin ◽

Palmer Station

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Number and distribution of Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) breeding sites in the Robinson Group of islands, Mac.Robertson Land coast, east Antarctica

Polar Record ◽

10.1017/s0032247407006365 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 43 (3) ◽

pp. 225-229 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Matthew Low ◽

Lisa Meyer ◽

Colin Southwell

Keyword(s):

East Antarctica ◽

Adélie Penguin ◽

Pygoscelis Adeliae ◽

Adelie Penguin ◽

Breeding Sites ◽

Comprehensive Survey ◽

Spatial Coordinates ◽

Adélie Penguins

ABSTRACTIn November 2005, the first comprehensive survey for Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) breeding sites in the Robinson Group of islands, situated 25 to 55 km east of Australia's Mawson station (67.602°S, 62.879°E) was conducted. Breeding Adélie penguins were found on 30 of the 149 islands, with the number of nests on each island ranging from fewer than 10 to several thousand. With the exception of those islands in the southeast, nesting Adélie penguins were found throughout the Robinson Group. In this paper, the spatial coordinates and presence/absence of breeding penguins for all 149 islands are reported so that researchers may interpret the results in relation to possible future survey work. All locations reported in this paper are in decimal degrees.

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Breeding behaviour of colour-aberrant Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) at Cape Crozier, Ross Island, Antarctica

Antarctic Science ◽

10.1017/s0954102021000158 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-9

Author(s):

Parker M. Levinson ◽

Annie E. Schmidt ◽

Virginia Morandini ◽

Megan Elrod ◽

Dennis Jongsomjit ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mate Selection ◽

Bird Species ◽

Low Frequency ◽

Adélie Penguin ◽

Pygoscelis Adeliae ◽

Frequency Condition ◽

Adelie Penguin ◽

Individual Fitness ◽

Adélie Penguins

Abstract Plumage colour variation occurs widely among bird species and is often associated with individual fitness. More specifically, colouration can affect thermoregulatory ability, mate selection and conspicuousness during foraging. Colour aberrations can be caused by genetic mutations, dietary imbalances, environmental conditions or disease and are rare. Plumage variations have previously been noted in Adélie penguins, although without any follow-up to measure implications for behaviour or fitness. To assess how this low-frequency condition affects breeding in Adélie penguins, we monitored the breeding of several colour-aberrant Adélie penguins during the 2019–2020 nesting season at the large Cape Crozier, Ross Island colony (> 300,000 pairs). In total, we found 12 individuals with unusual plumage for a frequency of 1:50,000 breeding penguins. There were seven dark brown Adélie penguins, three progressive greying Adélie penguins, one dilute Adélie penguin and one brown Adélie penguin, of which five were female, three male and four of unknown sex. Six colour aberrants initiated breeding with a normal-coloured mate, and five raised at least one chick to crèche. The likelihood of breeding and breeding success of colour aberrants were similar to those of normal-coloured Adélie penguins, suggesting that colour aberrations do not negatively affect breeding.

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Identification of Circovirus Genome in a Chinstrap Penguin (Pygoscelis antarcticus) and Adélie Penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) on the Antarctic Peninsula

Viruses ◽

10.3390/v12080858 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (8) ◽

pp. 858 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Hila Levy ◽

Steven R. Fiddaman ◽

Anni Djurhuus ◽

Caitlin E. Black ◽

Simona Kraberger ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Antarctic Peninsula ◽

Chinstrap Penguin ◽

East Antarctica ◽

Western Antarctic Peninsula ◽

Adélie Penguin ◽

Pygoscelis Adeliae ◽

Adelie Penguin ◽

Pygoscelis Antarcticus ◽

Genome Wide ◽

Adélie Penguins

Circoviruses infect a variety of animal species and have small (~1.8–2.2 kb) circular single-stranded DNA genomes. Recently a penguin circovirus (PenCV) was identified associated with an Adélie Penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) with feather disorder and in the cloacal swabs of three asymptomatic Adélie Penguins at Cape Crozier, Antarctica. A total of 75 cloacal swab samples obtained from adults and chicks of three species of penguin (genus: Pygoscelis) from seven Antarctic breeding colonies (South Shetland Islands and Western Antarctic Peninsula) in the 2015−2016 breeding season were screened for PenCV. We identified new variants of PenCV in one Adélie Penguin and one Chinstrap Penguin (Pygoscelis antarcticus) from Port Charcot, Booth Island, Western Antarctic Peninsula, a site home to all three species of Pygoscelid penguins. These two PenCV genomes (length of 1986 nucleotides) share > 99% genome-wide nucleotide identity with each other and share ~87% genome-wide nucleotide identity with the PenCV sequences described from Adélie Penguins at Cape Crozier ~4400 km away in East Antarctica. We did not find any evidence of recombination among PenCV sequences. This is the first report of PenCV in Chinstrap Penguins and the first detection outside of Ross Island, East Antarctica. Given the limited knowledge on Antarctic animal viral diversity, future samples from Antarctic wildlife should be screened for these and other viruses to determine the prevalence and potential impact of viral infections.

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Ancient Adélie penguin colony revealed by snowmelt at Cape Irizar, Ross Sea, Antarctica

Geology ◽

10.1130/g48230.1 ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Steven D. Emslie

Keyword(s):

Ross Sea ◽

Bone Collagen ◽

Adélie Penguin ◽

Pygoscelis Adeliae ◽

Adelie Penguin ◽

Terra Nova Bay ◽

Penguin Colony ◽

Marine Productivity ◽

First Time ◽

Adélie Penguins

The Ross Sea (Antarctica) is one of the most productive marine ecosystems in the Southern Ocean and supports nearly one million breeding pairs of Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) annually. There also is a well-preserved record of abandoned penguin colonies that date from before the Last Glacial Maximum (>45,000 14C yr B.P.) through the Holocene. Cape Irizar is a rocky cape located just south of the Drygalski Ice Tongue on the Scott Coast. In January 2016, several abandoned Adélie penguin sites and abundant surface remains of penguin bones, feathers, and carcasses that appeared to be fresh were being exposed by melting snow and were sampled for radiocarbon analysis. The results indicate the “fresh” remains are actually ancient and that three periods of occupation by Adélie penguins are represented beginning ca. 5000 calibrated calendar (cal.) yr B.P., with the last occupation ending by ca. 800 cal. yr B.P. The presence of fresh-appearing remains on the surface that are actually ancient in age suggests that only recently has snowmelt exposed previously frozen carcasses and other remains for the first time in ~800 yr, allowing them to decay and appear fresh. Recent warming trends and historical satellite imagery (Landsat) showing decreasing snow cover on the cape since 2013 support this hypothesis. Increased δ13C values of penguin bone collagen further indicate a period of enhanced marine productivity during the penguin “optimum”, a warm period at 4000–2000 cal. yr B.P., perhaps related to an expansion of the Terra Nova Bay polynya with calving events of the Drygalski Ice Tongue.

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Adélie Penguins; A Long Term Banding Study - Breeding Biology of the Adélie Penguin. D. G. Ainley, R. Le Resche and W. J. L. Sladen 1984. Berkeley, University of California Press. 240 p, illustrated, hardback. ISBN 0-520-04838-5. £22.00.

Polar Record ◽

10.1017/s0032247400005805 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 22 (139) ◽

pp. 443-444

Author(s):

Bernard Stonehouse

Keyword(s):

Breeding Biology ◽

University Of California ◽

Adélie Penguin ◽

Adelie Penguin ◽

Banding Study ◽

Adélie Penguins

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A short note on an Adélie penguin feeding its own mate

Polar Biology ◽

10.1007/s00300-002-0429-0 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 25 (11) ◽

pp. 868-869 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ken Yoda ◽

Yan Ropert-Coudert

Keyword(s):

Short Note ◽

Adélie Penguin ◽

Adelie Penguin

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Short Note: First report of Cryptosporidium spp. oocysts in stool of Adélie penguin from the Antarctic using acid-fast stain

Antarctic Science ◽

10.1017/s0954102007000429 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 19 (4) ◽

pp. 437-438 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Fernando Fredes ◽

Eduardo Raffo ◽

Pamela Muñoz

Keyword(s):

Digestive Tract ◽

Short Note ◽

Adélie Penguin ◽

Intracellular Parasite ◽

Laboratory Mice ◽

Adelie Penguin ◽

Animal Groups ◽

First Report ◽

Cryptosporidium Spp ◽

The Antarctic

Cryptosporidium is an intracellular parasite that belongs to the phylum Protozoa and subphylum Apicomplexa (Sporozoa). It was first described by from the digestive tract of laboratory mice (Garcia 2001), and has been found in several animal groups including fishes, reptiles, birds and mammals, including humans (Jellison et al. 2002).

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