Two additional penguin couples have laid eggs at the Tennessee Aquarium.
Paulie and Chaos may have been the first penguins to produce an egg at the Tennessee Aquarium, laying one in mid-May, but now the macaroni penguins have company in the Penguins’ Rock exhibit.
Two pairs of gentoos are tending eggs of their own and there should be another egg by the end of this week, said spokesman Thom Benson.
“Gentoo penguins will keep both of their eggs in the nest as long as there is enough food and there aren't many predators,” said Tennessee Aquarium senior aviculturist Amy Graves.
Ms. Graves discovered the first gentoo egg in Bug’s and Big T’s nest on Saturday and a second egg was found this morning. On Monday, another new egg was discovered in Biscuit’s and Blue’s nest.
If their eggs are fertile, Bug and Big T could be first-time parents. They are both five-year-old penguins that seem to be a bit free-spirited, officials said.
Biscuit and Blue are more mature, came to the aquarium as a pair and have had chicks at another aquarium, the aquarium reported.
The incubation period for macaroni penguins takes 33 and 39 days., so if Chaos and Paulie’s egg is fertile, a chick could begin to “pip,” or hatch, between June 15 and June 23.
The incubation period for gentoo penguins takes 36 to 41 days, so keepers must wait until sometime in mid-July to see if the newly discovered gentoo eggs are fertile.
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 ...
Or login with:
New Account