#pygoscelis adeliae

[snototter]

Adelie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) at Cape Denison, Commonwealth Bay, Antarctica

by Mary Bomford

[todropscience]

PENGUINS CAUGHT ON CAMERA EATING "SEA BUTTERFLIES"

For the first time, researchers have captured video evidence of Adélie penguins actively feeding on shelled pteropods, tiny, free-swimming sea snails, in East Antarctica. The team equipped eight chick-rearing penguins with cameras and GPS loggers. Over 86 hours of footage revealed that seven of the eight birds consumed pteropods, with two individuals deriving over 60% of their prey from Clio pyramidata and Limacina rangii. While krill remained the dominant food source, the penguins opportunistically targeted dense pteropod patches, suggesting this overlooked trophic pathway may serve as an important supplemental prey.

- Pteropods found and consumed by Adélie penguins A solitary Clio pyramidata. B aggregated C. pyramidata in the water column. C a capture event of C. pyramidata and D a capture event of Limacina rangii.

This discovery carries significant climate implications. Shelled pteropods are highly vulnerable to ocean acidification caused by fossil fuel emissions, and their availability could shift as Southern Ocean chemistry changes. The study is limited to one colony and one season, but it raises critical questions: will Adélie penguins increasingly rely on pteropods as a fallback food, or will acidification collapse this emerging link? Future research will explore whether this behavior persists across years and colonies, or only emerges under specific environmental pressures.

Reference: Watanabe et al. 2026. Video evidence of pteropod predation highlights diet flexibility in Adélie penguins. Marine Biology. 

Gif: Video from a camera mounted on the back of an Adélie penguin, preying on a shelled pteropod, Clio pyramidata, Limacina Rangii. Gif from video

[haveyouseenthisanimal-irl]

Have you seen a Adélie Penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae)?

I have seen one in nature

I have seen one in captivity

I have seen a dead one/a taxidermy

I don’t know if I’ve seen one in person

I’ve only seen photos, never seen in person

I’ve never heard of this animal

Voting ended onJul 4, 2024

[birdblues]

Adelie Penguin

[sitting-on-me-bum]

Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) gather on rocks on one of the Danger Islands, near the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. A mega-colony of Adélies, of about 1.5 million individuals, was recently discovered here.

Image credit: Michaela Skovranova

[cozamal0tl]

All penguin species (1/2)

Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae)

(X) <-

African penguin (Spheniscus demersus)

(X) <-

Chinstrap penguin (Pygoscelis antarcticus)

(X) <-

Emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri)

(X) <- 

Erect-crested Penguin (Eudyptes sclateri)

(X) <-

Fiordland Penguin (Eudyptes pachyrhynchus)

(X) <-

Galápagos penguin (Spheniscus mendiculus)

(X) <-

Gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis papua)

(X) <-

[birds-that-screm]

Adelie Penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae)

© Jordi Sargatal

[kiss-kiss-bird-in-love]

Adelie Penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae)

© Phillip Edwards