Throughout the winter, adults come and go from their traditional breeding colonies. Antarctica is home to 2 million Kings. In this one colony alone, there are 600,000 of them.

These engaging chicks are so inquisitive that you only have to sit down to their own level for them all to gather around you to try to discover what sort of creature you are. They were hatched last summer, and like the albatross chicks, they are just coming to the end of their first winter. During that period, their parents were out at sea catching food for them. But each chick was only fed about once every 3 weeks. Left to themselves for so long, er they've all gathered together to form immense creches. This one contains about 50,000 chicks. You might think that this huge congregation would make it almost impossible for a parent returning with food to find its own chick. But not so. The fact is that parent and chick can recognize one another's voice.

A returning adult may spend hours looking for its chick among such a crowd, for the young are inclined to wander. The chick will respond to its parent's call and the parent to the chick's whistle. Eventually they meet. But instead of feeding the chick straight away, the adult leads it through the rookery as if to test the bond between them. At last, in response to its chick's plaintive entreaties, the parent regurgitates a meal of squid.

A King Penguin chick takes more than 12 months to rear. That means that the adults can't breed annually. At best they raise two chicks every 3 years. Because of this, the breeding cycle of any one pair slides out of phase with the seasons. So now, late in winter, there are chicks both young and old, and adults at different stages in their cycle. Some of the adults are going through their pre-breeding moult before going to sea to fatten up for courtship. Others are already courting, parading back and forth with a special ritualized walk.

New Words & Phrases

inquisitive:Unduly curious and inquiring好奇的，好詢問的

creche:托兒所, 孤兒院

congregation:The act of assembling.
集合：集合的行為

rookery:The breeding ground of certain other birds or animals, such as penguins and seals.
繁殖地：企鵝和海豹等其它鳥類或獸類的繁殖地

bond:Bond is usually a close relationship between two people, or a trust.關系

plaintive:Expressing sorrow; mournful or melancholy.
痛苦的：表示傷心的；悲痛的或憂郁的

entreaty:An earnest request or petition; a plea.
迫切要求或懇求；請求

regurgitate :To cause to pour back, especially to cast up (partially digested food).
反胃：造成回翻，特別是反胃（部分消化的食物）

out of phase :異相地, 不協調地

moult :換毛, 脫毛