Adelie Penguin
The Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) is a small penguin that breeds all around the Antarctic coast. The French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville named it for his wife, Adèle, in 1840.
The Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) is a small penguin that breeds all around the Antarctic coast. The French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville named it for his wife, Adèle, in 1840.
🧬 Field Guide Specimen: Open Adelie Penguin in the CRV Science Field Guide to log the specimen, see its place among the Reptilia lineages in the Cladogram Explorer, and test your recall in the Red List conservation game.
A True Antarctic Species
Adélies nest on ice-free ground, and feed in sea-ice zones, on krill. They spend the winter on the pack ice. Their dependence on ice makes them sensitive to change.
Winners and Losers of Climate Change
Colonies on the western Antarctic Peninsula have declined as warming reduces sea ice and krill, while some colonies in the Ross Sea have grown. See Gentoo Penguin.
Rock Thieves
Like gentoos, Adélies steal stones from each other for their nests. Their colonies can contain hundreds of thousands of birds.
Adelie Penguin at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Scientific name | Pygoscelis adeliae |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Sphenisciformes |
| Family | Spheniscidae |
| Field Guide group | Reptilia: Aves (Birds) |
| Diagnostic feature (Field Guide) | Compact black-and-white flightless seabird with a white ring around each eye; walks or slides on its belly across Antarctic sea ice to reach pebble nests. |
| IUCN Red List status | Least Concern (LC) |
| Family | Spheniscidae |
| Main food | Krill |
See Also
- Gentoo Penguin — a species gaining as Adélies decline
- Emperor Penguin — another ice-dependent penguin