The world continues - penguin update❤️

Dear PenguinPromises
>
> The penguins are now back home in the colony after having spent a lovely few
> weeks just resting and relaxing out at sea. They have been eating lots of fish
> and have now got back to their normal weight of about 6 kg.
>
> Winter is now approaching rapidly and the days are getting shorter. Each day
> there are fewer hours of daylight for Promises to catch fish. The penguins will
> need to start swimming northwards soon to find better weather and longer hours
> of daylight for fishing, but first they have to change their feathers. Changing
> feathers is called moulting or molting depending on where you live. My apologies
> if my British spelling is not the same as yours.
>
> When the penguins leave on their winter migration they will be out at sea for
> many months without coming ashore at all. The seawater is very cold so the feathers
> need to be in perfect condition to keep Promises warm for such a long period
> of time. Feathers wear out just like clothes do, and just like clothes they need
> to be replaced once a year. Just like people check that their car is in good
> condition before going on a long journey, so too Promises must moult to be in
> peak condition for the long migration ahead.
>
> This is a good time to moult because the penguins are nice and plump after being
> out at sea feeding for the last few weeks. That is important because during the
> moult Promises cannot eat anything at all. During the moult penguins cannot go
> into the cold water because it is too cold for them without good feathers. If
> Promises cannot go out to sea then no food can be caught.
>
> Most birds have plumage in which each feather is individual. You can see that
> when birds such as sparrows and pigeons fluff up their feathers in cold weather,
> or when they are bathing in a bird bath. However penguin feathers are different.
> Penguins do not fly, and they live most of their life in cold water, so penguin
> feathers are very different.
>
> Birds evolved from reptiles many millions of years ago. They evolved from warm-blooded
> reptiles that no longer exist today. Today reptiles are cold-blooded, which means
> that they are unable to produce their own body heat. They rely on warmth from
> their surroundings, and many reptiles bask in the sun to get their bodies up
> to the right temperature. Reptiles have scales which allow the warmth from the
> sun to heat them up quickly. Warm-blooded animals require the opposite. They
> need protection that stops the transfer of heat.
>
> Warm-blooded reptiles produced their own internal body heat just like mammals
> and people do. Warm-blooded animals need to eat a lot more than cold-blooded
> animals in order to produce the energy to provide that heat. It is therefore
> important to conserve that heat to reduce energy loss and thereby reduce the
> amount of food needed to survive. We all know this, which is why we put on a
> coat when we go out into the cold, and why we eat more when we are cold.
>
> So scales that lost heat far too easily gradually evolved into feathers in order
> to reduce heat loss. Some of these warm-blooded reptiles lived in trees and leapt
> from tree to tree to travel around in forests, rather like squirrels do today.
> Some evolved rudimentary wings and tails out of their feathers to travel further
> and to control gliding over longer distances. Leaping became gliding, and gliding
> eventually became flying.
>
> I attach a drawing showing what one of these intermediate creatures supposedly
> looked like based on fossil evidence. It was called Archaeopteryx and its existence
> is proven by the discovery of literally thousands of fossils of this animal.
> It was not able to fly because its body was too heavy to permit flight. Instead
> it lived in trees and the development of feathers enabled Archaeopteryx to glide
> in a controlled manner from tree to tree, using its feathery wings and tail.
> Many species of Archaeopteryx had a claw on the tip of its wing to help it climb
> up trees.
>
> It is easy to see why this animal is considered to be the link between small
> tree-dwelling reptiles that leapt from tree to tree, and birds which later developed
> true flight. Archaeopteryx even looks like a cross between a small dinosaur and
> a bird. To obtain true flight birds had to reduce weight further by developing
> hollow bones, and changing the shape of the thorax to allow the development of
> strong muscles to flap the wings. Archaeopteryx was a glider not an airplane,
> and it was just one step in the evolution towards flight.
>
> About 65 million years ago these relatives of small dinosaurs evolved into the
> huge variety of birds that we see today. About 50 million years ago penguins
> gave up that flight and moved into the water. Penguins do not need feathers to
> be light or fluffy. Penguins need feathers to be waxy and interlocking in order
> to keep cold water away from their skin. So penguin feathers are very different
> to most other birds.
>
> Penguin feathers have microscopic hooks along the edge that allow the feathers
> to lock together like Velcro. Instead of being individual feathers, they all
> work together to provide the penguin with a kind of wet suit, like surfers and
> divers use to keep warm in cold water. This plumage is excellent for keeping
> the penguins warm in cold water, but just like the tiles on a roof, it does not
> work if some are missing.
>
> During the moult new feathers grow from underneath and push the old feathers
> out one by one. Going into the sea would be impossible once that begins. If some
> of the feathers are missing the cold seawater gets into the plumage and the insulation
> fails. With the feathers falling out Promises would not be able to stand more
> than a few minutes in the cold water before being forced to come back ashore.
> The fish live more than an hour away so there is no hope of catching any until
> the moult is over.
>
> The moult takes about three to four weeks from start to finish. It is very long
> and very boring for Promises. The penguins cannot go anywhere or do anything.
> They just stay at home waiting for the new feathers to grow. Can you imagine
> sitting at home for weeks with nothing to do except watch your hair grow? Well
> maybe you can at the moment, but remember that penguins don't have TV or mobile
> phones to help pass the time.
>
> As if that is not enough, the moult itches too. The penguins never stop scratching
> and preening. As the new feathers underneath grow, the old feathers get pushed
> out, and the penguins are left looking like worn out soft toys (see photo). Some
> penguins sit in their nest and others prefer to stand in groups. Standing makes
> it easier for scratching and preening. With most of the penguins standing in
> groups it is hard to know which penguin is which, so I attach a group photo showing
> what they look like during the moult. Some of the penguins are adults and some
> are juveniles between two and four years old. All penguins have to go through
> the moult each year. The chicks did it a few weeks ago, and now it is the turn
> of the adults and juveniles.
>
> As soon as the moult has finished Promises will leave the colony and set off
> on the winter migration. I will write to you again in another few weeks, by which
> time Promises will be heading towards Brazil for the southern hemisphere winter.
>
> Kind regards, Mike
>
>