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Size
Height : 71 to 77 cm (28 to 31 inches) for average adult.
Weight : 3 to 5.5 kg (7 to 12 lbs) for average adult.
Description
- Thin black stripe across white throat, the ‘chinstrap.”
- Unfeathered black bill.
- Red irises.
- Juvenile has speckled gray face and throat.
Feet
Food
- Antarctic krill and small fish.
Rookeries
- Lives on rocky and ice-free slopes, often above Adelie and Gentoo Penguins on sub-Antarctic Islands.
- The first birds to arrive at the rookery choose the highest places because they are the locations that become ice-free.
- Nests are lined with stones to allow any snowmelt to drain away helping to keep the eggs dry.
- Chinstraps climb to these choice nests using their sharp-clawed feet and beaks.
- They return to the same nesting site year after year.
- These colonies are often large, extending over slopes inland for great distances.
Breeding
- With a strong attachment to their mates the males arrive first and wait on the nest for the females.
- The nest is a flat saucer of small stones often having a few bones and feathers.
- New breeders find a rocky hollow and continue to add pebbles during the entire breeding cycle.
- The pair guard the nest since neighbors steal stones if given a chance.
- Female and male share the duty of incubating the 2 eggs for about 37 days.
- The female is responsible for the first 6 days then both parents feed the chicks frequently on regurgitated krill.
- The chick is covered with light gray downy feathers.
- Chicks join a crèche in about a month allowing both parents to fish.
Predators 
- Leopard Seals while they are in the water.
- Sheathbills snatch many eggs.
- Skuas prey upon chicks.
Interesting Facts
- Chinstraps are one of the most gregarious of penguins making these birds noticeably noisy and sociable.
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