A short and sweet video showing the process of an African Penguin chick emerging from it's shell, called pipping, from egg to baby bird! The New England Aquarium has had a penguin baby boom this summer so if you live in the Boston area, definitely make the trip.
The Newest, Cutest Baby Animals from the World's Zoos & Aquariums
5 responses to “Pipping Penguin from Egg to Baby Bird”
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That seems like an awful lot of handling! Especially turning the egg over and over while the chick is still inside. Considering that most birds can usually manage the process by themselves, or with a little help from the parents (who were clearly available!) is there a reason for this much intervention?
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I think that’s because it’s time lapse. The whole pipping process can take 24 – 48 hours, and they only included the parts with people handling the egg in this video.
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I thought the same thing theangelJean! I was expecting a cute little video and the whole time I was just thinking “why’s he holding it the whole time?”
And sure, maybe Jives is right that it’s just that they’re not showing the whole thing, but I would have rather seen more of the chick breaking out on its own and less of the guy holding, rotating, and picking at the egg. -
We contacted the New England Aquarium to get their input on the questions raised here and on our Facebook page. I am pasting it below:
Thanks to everyone voicing concerns for the penguin chicks, we share your concerns! Here’s some information that might clear up a couple questions. The first thing to keep in mind is that the video is a time-lapse montage of many different chicks raised at the Aquarium this year. The eggs stay with the parents for the whole 40 day incubation period and well after they’ve hatched! Our biologists have to remove the eggs from the parents periodically to check for any problems, like the egg accidentally being cracked before its hatch date. If everything looks OK, as is most often the case, the eggs are returned right back to mom and dad. The same goes once the chick is hatched. The biologists check on their health and weight every couple days, then the chicks are returned to the parents.
Here are some links that might help you learn more about the breeding process for this endangered species:
Learn about the start of the breeding process with this entry from our Penguin Blog:
http://penguins.neaq.org/2010/07/breeding-romantic-getaway.html
In this entry, learn how our biologists check on the eggs with a special light periodically during the 40 day incubation period. As you can see, it’s a quick look, and then the eggs go right back to the parents:
http://penguins.neaq.org/2010/08/breeding-candleing.html
This entry notes that pipping can take up to 48 hours. The video only showed the parts with biologists checking on the egg:
http://penguins.neaq.org/2010/08/penguin-pals-pip.html
Penguin chicks are kept with their parents after hatching where they learn to eat fish until it’s time for the chicks to learn to eat from human hands:
http://penguins.neaq.org/2010/08/breeding-everybody-loves-chicks.html
And here’s a peek behind the scenes of the Aquarium’s penguin program:
http://www.neaq.org/animals_and_exhibits/exhibits/behind_the_scenes/behind_the_scenes_at_the_penguin_exhibit.php -
Ahh! That’s a relief. It’s good to know that they were just showing the egg to the camera while it was being checked, and then letting everything else happen naturally.
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