Feeding chases and food allocation in Adelie penguins, Pygoscelis adeliae

Among penguins, well-developed feeding chases where chicks run after adults and beg for food are found only in the genera PygoscelisAptenodytesFeeding chases involving adult Adelie penguins, with two chicks, compared to feeding chases involving those with one chick, were longer, occurred further from the breeding group and included more runs between each feed. Feeding chases were more likely when chicks were close together, and which chick was fed was more likely to switch after a feeding chase. These results suggest that feeding chases serve to minimize harassment from other chicks during feeding and to reduce the effects of sibling competition.Copyright 1997 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour1997The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour