{
2008
03
20
}
Fairy Penguins in red light district
Granite Island has been specially designed to make
it easier for the penguins to breed. They have ready-made burrows and taken
special precaution to make the island penguin-safe. The penguin population is
dwindling (ironically due to tourism) and they are trying to revive it. On a recent trip to Granite Island, Australia, we were fortunate enough to watch penguins as they were coming back from a day out at sea with their catch to feed their young. Apart from the usual
guidelines of observing wild animals like not to feed, approach or disturb them
with loud noises, there was a particularly interesting note of caution which caught
my attention: “No flashlight, only RED light can be used.” to shine at the
penguins. According to the guide, it is only under red light, that the penguins
would behave normally. As a result, the pictures turned out like this:
note that it was pitch dark except for the stark
red light obvious to us humans, but not the penguins
Vision
Fairy penguins (Eudyptula minor) breed and live on the island. They are also
known as little penguins as they are the smallest known species of penguins. Penguins have a flat cornea that allows for clear vision underwater. They are, as many avian
birds, able to see the ultra-violet range of the light spectrum. Since their receptors have
higher sensitivity towards colours with shorter wavelength (UV light), sensitivity
towards red light(with longer wavelength, at the other end of the spectrum of
visible light) would decrease. [link] Hence, penguins would
behave naturally under red light as they are unable to detect it. However, colours
are in fact only perceived in the brain, penguins may not see additional UV
colours and may perceive colours differently from us. In order to fully
understand this phenomenon, we have to find out how penguins perceive colours. This
would better our comprehension of their signals, and give
us an insight to the function and evolution of the various colour vision systems
that exist across different species.
[I was thinking, since penguins and birds
can see UV light, are they able to detect the female UV jumping spiders]
Communication
A full grown penguin
is only about 40cm tall. They live in groups by the coast in burrows. 
penguin at the mouth of the burrow
The penguins would venture out to sea in the day in
search of small fish and squid for food and return just after dark, using the
absence of light as a camouflage from predators. While we were there, we
observed that penguins used a mixture of something like a cackling/quacking
sound for communication. There are three main types of penguin calls. There’s contact call for maintaining
communication among the colony, display call to be used between couples and threat
call to warn the colony of intruders. I would suppose that threat call is the
easiest to recognise because of the urgency and loudness of the call which
makes it effective Click here or here to listen to a sample of penguin sounds.
Penguins’
interesting mating selection behaviour is also noteworthy. The male penguins
would walk along the shore in search of the nicest and shiniest pebble to
present to a female penguin. They may walk the shore for the whole day and drop
the pebble at the feet of the female. If she picks up the pebble, they would
become mates for life. Penguins practise monogamy. And for communication
between partners, penguins use the display call. As penguins live in large
colonies and their tuxedos look pretty much the same, it is each others’ call
which they recognise and respond to.
I'll end off with a video of fairy penguins
References:
http://www.aad.gov.au/default.asp?casid=229,
Australian Antarctic Division - Sounds of Antarctica.
Australian Government. Retrieved 17 March 2008
http://www.canongate.net/Lists/Animals/11ExamplesofUnusualMatingHabits,
11 Examples of Unusual Mating Habits, Canongate. Retrieved 17 March 2008
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