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Staff Photo by Allison Kwesell Penguins at the Tennessee Aquarium's Ocean's Journey inspect new rocks added to their aquarium. The aquarium staff is hoping the penguins will use the rocks to build nests which might encourage them to breed in the exhibit.
Nothing gets the Tennessee Aquarium’s penguins more in the mood than a big pile of rocks.
At least that’s what senior aviculturist Amy Graves hopes. Wednesday, aquarium employees dumped out hundreds of pounds of rocks, used as nesting material, into the penguin exhibit, which the aquarium hopes will jumpstart the birds’ breeding season.
Wednesday, when aquarium workers dumped out the rocks, only the smell of fish appeared to be in the air, but the rhythmic head-bobbing, the near-snuggling and the furious rock-stacking suggested love was in the air, officials said.
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By the numbers
2: eggs laid by each impregnated bird about four days apart
36 and 42 days: the gestation period
15 days: how long the birds will sit on the eggs before the chick can maintain its body temperature
24-48 hours: time it takes for a chick to hatch itself from the egg
65-75 days: how long it takes for the chicks to fledge or become independent
SOURCE: Tennessee Aquarium.
“The (penguins) were showing signs of courtship, so we knew they were ready,” Ms. Graves said. “We had clues that they were ready for the rocks to be introduced.”
The aquarium’s two species of penguins -- macaronis and gentoos -- won’t mate until there is a nest for the eggs. The nest-building process takes anywhere from two weeks to six weeks. If it all goes well and eggs are laid, gestation takes between 36 and 42 days, which means chicks could come around June.
“They’ve shuffled quite a few rocks already,” Ms. Graves said, speaking a few hours after the rocks were introduced Wednesday. “Aggression is a little high today, because everyone wants the best nest site and the best rocks.”
This isn’t the first time the aquarium has tried to stoke a little love in the Penguins’ Rock exhibit. Last year, aquarium workers introduced rocks, too, but the result wasn’t a success.
“Lighting is really everything,” she said. “It takes about two years for the birds to get really adjusted to a new lighting schedule, and April is two years exactly. The birds molted together this year, so we think the timing is right.”
There are 19 birds in the exhibit, which opened in 2007. Ms. Graves estimates their could be six sets of parents ready for breeding this year.
Already, birds are pairing up. Poncho and Peep, a male and female Gentoo were stacking nests Wednesday afternoon. So was Hercules, a macaroni, who was courting with three females: Shamrock, Sweet Pea and Little Debbie, said Loribeth Aldrich, an aquarium aviculturist.
“We’ve seen some of the birds already sitting on their nests,” Ms. Aldrich said. “The birds are acting completely different today.”
Visitors will be able to notice the nests, and aquarium spokesman Thom Benson said the Penguins’ Rock online Web cam will be adjusted to show the progress and highlight the gestation period if that occurs. If the birds manage to hatch a chick, Ms. Graves said they hope let the birds raise it themselves in front of aquarium visitors.
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Love is in the waterAs breeding season begins, penguin keepers at the Tennessee Aquarium place rocks in the penguin tank so that the birds can build nests.
Adam Crisp covers education issues for the Times Free Press. He joined the paper's staff in 2007 and initially covered crime, public safety, courts and general assignment topics. Prior to Chattanooga, Crisp was a crime reporter at the Savannah Morning News and has been a reporter and editor at community newspapers in southeast Georgia. In college, he led his student paper to a first-place general excellence award from the Georgia College Press Association. He earned ...
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