Baby Makes 3: Male Penguin Couple Shows Off Their Parenting Skills

[DiAnna]

This article ran in today's Sacramento Bee, and it is the most interesting, informative, well-written and amusing article I've ever read! It's a very long article, but worth reading every word. I've always loved penguins...who doesn't?...but I had no idea of the intricacies of dating, mating, bonding and parenting. Let's just say that even in the penguin world, love finds a way!

The article goes through the introduction, courtship and bonding rituals of Gentoo penguins Sphen and Magic, which are surprisingly extensive, all the way down to the lengthy egg-hatching process. In fact, the only penguin chick that hatched in the entire colony during this mating season belonged to the gay penguin couple!

I loved this article, and hope some of you will enjoy it as well!


https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/15/style/gay-penguins-australia.html

It was a young penguin colony, and all but one of the couples were pretty bad parents. They would get distracted from their nests, go for a swim or play, and so neglected eggs were getting cold, likely never to hatch. This was normal for inexperienced penguins, and the aquarium managers didn’t worry. Next mating season would be better.

One couple, though, was extraordinary. Not because they were the colony’s only gay penguins, though they were, but because Sphen and Magic looked like they would make great, diligent, careful egg-warming parents. They made the biggest nest, and they sat on it constantly... And so then, when a particularly negligent heterosexual penguin couple looked to be leaving an egg exposed (females lay two, but usually only one survives), the aquarium workers figured they would give it to Sphen and Magic. In October, that egg hatched. Now the chick of a gay penguin union is waddling around an ice enclosure by the touristy docks in Sydney...

 

[uptower]

This will make some people's blood boil and that, sir, is hilarious...

 

[DiAnna]

This will make some people's blood boil and that, sir, is hilarious...

Huh? Why? I just thought it was an adorably sweet story.

 

[DiAnna]

This ****bucket of fail thread is the reason I so rarely start threads. Something that makes me giggle with delight always seems to garner quizzical glances and *crickets*.

*sigh* I really suck at this. Sorry, guys and gals.

Carry on!

 

[JMR]

This ****bucket of fail thread is the reason I so rarely start threads. Something that makes me giggle with delight always seems to garner quizzical glances and *crickets*.

*sigh* I really suck at this. Sorry, guys and gals.

Carry on!

Don't be sorry! This is a charming story. Do you remember the children's book "And Tango Makes Three" It was a story of similar male penguins in New York City who created a family and took exceptional care of their young. (around 2005) Well, as one can imagine, the book caused quite a stir. Some parents went out of their way to try to remove it from our local library. It was just too controversial at the time. So perhaps causing no ruckus with this latest version is a sign of moving forward.

All my best wishes to Sphen and Magic!