Today, I choose to write about the Adelie Penguin, and my knowledge of this bird consists of penguins that (appear) to wear tuxedos, plus comparable to all penguins, Adele Penguins captivate us with their intense cuteness.
One physical behavior they posses (which I desire) is the belly flop. As they run along the snow and ice on their little legs and big feet, they will undoubtedly fall, and this is where the belly flop comes into play. They fall with ease, and once on their bellies they slide for a short distance on the ice, as if to say I meant to do that, and I did it with style.
I recently fell on my knee, which caused a great deal of damage and pain. How wonderful if I could have fallen on my stomach and gracefully slid across the room, at which point I could have stood up and dusted myself off and moved on without pain or embarrassment.
Some of the earliest explorers in Antarctica wrote about these little birds, and how friendly and annoying they could be. They remind me of arctic squirrels in the way they loved to taunt the sled dogs and their curiosity of the entire expeditions. Many video's on Youtube show their feet running as hard as they can to a helicopter or people nearby.
The birds live in Antarctica all their lives, yet when it's time to breed, they travel up to ten thousand miles to arrive at their breeding grounds. Even though I can't find the information showing their means of travel--I assume that they are underwater most of the way. They can swim close to 50 mph, and this rate would take them up to a month to arrive at their destination.
They create nests out of rocks, and will fight other parents who try to steal a rock for themselves. Both parents help to raise the young, though one odd action they implement, requires their chicks to run behind them at feeding time--shown in the video below.
I would love to have one as a pet, and hug and kiss it. Every night I would tuck it into it's little ice bed, and most likely it would be my best friend.
Though that is a wonderful daydream--alas it could never be my reality, and so I will just admire them from afar.
