A recent study on tiny penguins in Australia has shattered the myth that penguins mate for life. Over a 13-year period, researchers found that these little birds divorce almost ten times more often than adults in the U.S. The main reason? Their offspring.
While some penguin species, like the Adelie penguins, may stick with their partners as long as they show up on time for breeding season, scientists at Monash University discovered a much higher rate of separation among the little penguins. These tiny birds, weighing around two pounds, live mainly in Australia and New Zealand.
This study, while focused on mating habits, offered valuable insights into what affects penguin populations. Researchers had previously focused on environmental factors and behaviors like foraging time. However, this study revealed that low birth rates in a breeding season often triggered more divorces. If couples weren’t producing enough chicks, they looked for new partners in hopes of better outcomes.
Richard Reina, a professor at Monash, observed, “In good times, they largely stick with their partners, although there’s often a bit of hanky-panky happening on the side. However, after a poor reproductive season, they may try to find a new partner to increase their breeding success.”
From 2000 to 2012, researchers observed about a thousand pairs of little penguins on Phillip Island, which hosts the world’s largest colony of this species, estimated at 37,000 individuals. They noted a clear link between poor hatching success and more divorces.
“We tracked which individuals changed partners over 13 breeding seasons,” Reina explained. “We recorded nearly 250 divorces among the pairs and discovered that years with fewer divorces generally had better breeding success.”
The team monitored around 100 artificial nest boxes, with about 70% occupied each season. They followed 50 to 98 pairs annually, tagging penguins with electronic devices for easy tracking and recording their nesting habits three times a week throughout the study.
On average, the divorce rate stood at 26%. But interestingly, this rate dropped significantly when hatching success was high.
So why does this matter? While we can’t control nature, these findings provide a fascinating look at social behaviors that impact penguin populations, beyond the usual focus on climate and habitat concerns. “Our study highlights the importance of considering social dynamics alongside environmental factors when designing strategies to protect vulnerable seabird species,” said Professor Andre Chiaradia from Phillip Island Nature Parks.
Of the 18 known penguin species 11 are considered globally threatened, according to the IUCN Red List. Despite their high divorce rate, little penguins are one of the seven species not yet classified as threatened or endangered.
The findings were published in the journal Ecology and Evolution.
For further details, you can read the full report by Monash University.
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