Facts & figures

Scientific name Pygoscelis adeliae (named after the wife of the French explorer Durmont d'Urville)
The longest studied Antarctic organism
The most abundant and widespread Antarctic penguin
10 million Adélies make up 80% of the bird biomass in the Southern Ocean
Adélies live up to 14 years of age
Adélies are colonial nesting birds
Colonies are found in the 3% of the Antarctic coastline that is ice-free
Most Adélies breed in the colony of their birth – called natal philopatry
There are 38 colonies and over 5 million Adélies in the Ross Sea region
On land, Adélies are found in clusters; one or two large colonies (up to 250 000 breeding pairs) surrounded by smaller ones
Adélies feed mainly on krill and small fish
The main predators of Adélies are skuas, which will quickly eat unguarded eggs and chicks on land, and leopard seals and killer whales at sea
Human disturbance, pollution and rubbish have disrupted some colonies in the past; the areas Adélies breed in are often the same sites chosen for scientific stations and bases. There is a much greater awareness of this issue now, however
Understanding the dynamics of penguin population change is important, as these changes can be used as sensitive indicators of global climate change