The birds of the antartic coast

The location of DDU station on the coast ensures that we are surrounded by
animals all year long.7 species of birds are nesting on the island during summer:

-The adélie penguin.

Thousands of couples come to nest on the island from october till march. They usually have 2 chicks, who leave the nest about 2 or 3 months after birth and spend their first 3 or 4 years at sea. After that, they come back every summer to the island for reproduction (they often come back to their birth rookery).They eat mainly krill and can dive down to 100m deep.
Their predators are sea-leopards and orcas.

-The antartic skua.

It's the main predator of Adélie penguins' eggs and chicks. The couples have one chick each summer. In winter they go back to the ocean to feed.



-The snow petrel.

It's a snow-white bird, who eats mainly krill and small fishes. The couple have one chick in nesting cavities (in cracked cliff rocks). During winter they migrate to the edge of pack ice because the sea near the breeding sites gets frozen.



-The cape petrel.

Like the snow petrels, they have one chick during summer, they eat mainly krill and fish and they migrate northwards in winter.



-The giant petrel.

It's the biggest flying bird of the Antartic (more than 2m). They are opportunist scavengers and predators, in summer they scavenge primarily penguin carcasses, in winter most of them go to the sea to eat fish and krill but some adults remain near the emperor colonies to predate on penguins' chicks or eggs. Only a few couples are nesting near DDU during summer, because they are very affected by human presence.




-The antartic fulmar.

Around 40 couples are nesting on our island during summer. Their nests are located on cliffs. They eat fish, krill and squid.



-The wilson petrel.

It's the smallest antartic bird. They eat mainly krill. They nest in the antartic and subantartic areas during summer, and during winter they migrate to the north of equator (they can travel up to 40000km!).