First documented observation of stone incubating behavior in chinstrap penguins
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24425/ppr.2025.156302Abstract
Many ground-nesting birds are known to incubate non-egg objects; however, instances of incubation occurring without the bird's own eggs are rare. In the Antarctic region of King George Island, we observed a breeding chinstrap penguin Pygoscelis antarcticus incubating a stone instead of an egg. To our knowledge, this is the first documented instance of foreign object incubation in the family Spheniscidae. During the 2011/2012 to 2014/2015 breeding seasons, three nests exhibiting stone incubation were observed. Penguins at these nests displayed nest- defending behaviors against intruders, with individuals alternating incubation duties, resembling behaviors seen in pairs incubating eggs. All stone-incubating nests were located at the periphery of subcolonies and were established later than egg-incubating nests. Our findings suggest that this behavior is associated with the young and inexperienced bird hypothesis.
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