The past days I have spent several hours studying penguins and their behavior. I learned among others that the orange feathers play an important role in choosing a mate.
Penguins usually live in large groups. And thus, I wondered what a penguin sees when it looks around with regard to the orange feather patches.
To find this out, I went to the zoo again. I have a year’s entry pass and Basel Zoo is only a 20-minute bike ride from my home.
In the zoo I watched the king penguins for a while, standing close together on a heap of soil in their outdoor enclosure. They seemed to sleep, not much was happening. At about 3:30 p.m. the whole gang came to life. It was their time to waddle back to their indoor enclosure. I walked with them and took photos of the penguins and their orange ornaments.
Today’s photo shows what I saw (including a brown baby king penguin). How is it possible to select an orange patch and like it more than the others?
I have no clue. Life is full of wonders and there is still so much to learn!