Jeremy the Gentoo

[Written by Elizabeth Leonardis for our old blog, So Civilized]

Molting Jeremy

Around station, penguins are few and far between these days. However, there are still random Gentoos and Adelies in the area sticking around to molt. Every year following the breeding season, penguins must replace all their feather by molting. During this process they are no longer water proof, therefore they must stay out of the water and cannot eat during this time. It can take up to 30 days for some birds to replace all their feathers. There was one Gentoo Penguin (named Jeremy by Alex & I) who decided to molt at Palmer Station. It was fun to watch his progress over the weeks, although he did look pretty miserable most of the time. In the top photo you can see white feather sticking up on Jeremy’s back. The photo below is Jeremy after his new coat of feathers have come in, minus the little tuft still on his head. He looked a bit like the penguin fledglings with their goofy hairdos right before they leave the nest. The head appears to be the last place penguins get their new feathers for both adults and chicks. We were sad to see Jeremy leave, but happy for him that he was finally going to get some food in his shiny new coat of feathers.

Jeremy's new coat

Close-up of Jeremy's silly hairdo