Twycross Zoo Test Tracking Tags on Their Macaroni Penguins

By Kim Riley

Atherstone, UK - We know that the zoo birds at Twycross stay here, but the movements of wild birds over-winter are poorly understood. Most species spend the winter entirely at sea, and are capable of travelling thousands of miles from their colonies.

To address this question, The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) has developed a miniaturised (1.5g) data logger that allows birds to be tracked all over the world for periods of up to 3 years. The data logger does this by recording light levels and time (GMT), from which latitude and longitude can be calculated based on day length and local time of midday, respectively.

Fitting these securely to penguins has proved difficult. Bands on the flippers can cause excessive drag and increase mortality, while metal or plastic rings fitted to the legs cause cuts or sores.

BAS have developed a soft leg ring that we hope will not cause rubbing. Twycross Zoo have agreed to allow BAS to test these on their macaroni penguins, so that the keepers can remove the rings if any problems become apparent. Look closely at the bird’s right legs: can you see the ring?

If the rings work, BAS will use them to track the over-winter movements of wild macaroni penguins from the colony at Bird Island, South Georgia during 2010.

Earlier on in the year Twycross Zoo hand reared a macaroni penguin chick because of the lack of parental care. The chick has now been integrated back into the colony and has settled in extremely well. This is a great success story for the zoo as it is the only macaroni chick to be hand reared in Europe.

To view Twycross Zoo's web page on Zoo and Aquarium Visitor, go to:  http://www.zandavisitor.com/forumtopicdetail-712-Twycross_zoo