African penguin breeding season has ended for this year on Rock Island. This year, we had four sibling chicks hatch out. Two of the chicks, Mako and Megamouth, were named after sharks and are now hanging out with the rest of the colony around the Island. These boys are still sporting the grey and white feathers of juvenile penguins, and will not get their classic black-and-white coloring until they are about 1½-years-old in spring of 2013.
The other two siblings, brother Jack and sister Nutmeg, were born on December 21 and 25, and are just in the process of losing their fluffy grey feathers. They are also about to have their first swimming lessons! They will join the rest of the colony in a few weeks, once they have gained a little weight and mastered the art of swimming around the moat.
Photos of Nutmeg and Jack (Jack is the larger of the two):
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