The first new Cincinnati Zoo babies of the year are baby penguins!
Here’s the news from the zoo: http://cincinnatizoo.org/news-releases/little-blue-penguin-hatchlings-kick-off-cincinnati-zoos-year-of-the-penguin/
The zoo is reporting Reuben and Chip as the parents of these two new chicks. Interestingly, in our very preliminary analyses last semester in Penguin Data Club, Reuben was very social while Chip was not (based on RFID tags and swimming data). Reuben and Chip also didn’t seem to prefer to swim with each other (actually, Reuben most often swam with Mango, Bronco, Apple, and Nugget, while Chip swam often with Jalapeno). Breaking down the data by time may help us see if there are any swimming-related courtship associations that may precede successful reproduction events.
If you are an undergraduate student at the University of Cincinnati, and are interested in getting involved in this kind of research, I have volunteer research positions available! Visit this link for more detail.
