Adorable video shows Edinburgh Zoo’s gentoo penguins picking nest rings - decorate a pebble
Watch Edinburgh Zoo’s gentoo penguins picking nest rings as breeding season begins.
Adorable footage shows gentoo penguins at Edinburgh Zoo exploring this year’s nest rings.
Over 100 gentoo penguins at the zoo are getting ready for the breeding season after the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) began laying out nest rings.
The zoo said that the penguins were already patiently waiting to pick the best spots as the nests were wheeled into their habitat.
Among those already coupled up are visitor favourites Muffin and Mittens, with lots of partner wooing still to take place.
Pebbles, a vital part of these courtship rituals, will follow in the coming weeks. Visitors might even be able to spot their own decorated pebble being chosen (or rejected) by the penguins by taking part in the Penguin Love Pebbles event, which runs until Wednesday February 18.
Gentoo courtship involves locating a nesting site, males presenting pebbles as gifts to their partner for the season while bowing and braying. Females lay their eggs in March, with the first chicks hatching in April and May.
Edinburgh Zoo is also home to Northern rockhopper and king penguins, with keepers providing for the specific breeding requirements of each.