Macaroni Penguin
Empire Penguins have been given a lot of publicity
lately, and they do deserve it. But in fact there
are other species of penguins that are really
fun to learn about. I would love to go to Antarctica
and see them for myself someday. They certainly
deserve to be honored in one way or another,
and I am doing that for the Macaroni Penguin
with this gourd.
Macaronis are apparently quite abundant and inhabit
the sub-Antarctic islands. They are a couple
of feet tall and weigh enough to make your feet
sink in the snow if you pick them up. Like most
Antarctic penguins they eat krill and fish and
do their best to avoid becoming lunch for some
leopard seal, walrus or orca whale. They were
named by early English explorers who thought
that their yellow-orange crest looked like the
hats of 18th century men called 'macaronis'.
(Harken back to the song 'Yankee Doodle' and
you will know what I mean).
It seems that all penguins work real hard at
protecting their young, but for some reason Macaronis
do their own bit of natural selection. They lay
two eggs, and end up kicking one out so that
only one gets hatched and raised. How they make
that selection, I have no idea. Anyway. It must
be some form of Macaronis natural selection that
we may never understand.
I hope to see you in Saratoga next Sunday.
Margie Lopez Read
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