Cross Species Communication - Monday 11/19

[spit-spot.livejournal.com]

Once the class was settled, Mary addressed the class.

"Penguins (order Sphenisciformes, family Spheniscidae) are an order of aquatic, flightless birds living exclusively in the extreme Southern Hemisphere. Penguins communicate by vocalizing and performing physical behaviors called displays.They use many vocal and visual displays to communicate nesting territories, matinginformation, nest relief rituals, partner and chick recognition, and defense againstintruders Penguin calls (vocalizations) are individually identifiable, allowing partners torecognize each other and also their chick. This is important since the members of a largecolony of penguins are nearly indistinguishable on sight

As it states in the packets you handwavey recieved, There are three main kinds of penguin calls.
a. The contact call is usually used at sea to assist in visual recognition of colony members. The contact call of emperor and king penguins can be heard one kilometer (0.6 mi.) away
b. The display call is the most complex of all the calls and is used between partners in a colony. The call must convey information on territorial, sexual, and individual recognition
c. The threat call is the simplest and is used to defend a territory and warn against predators.

This may seem rather limited, but the combination of vocal and visual cues can make for a very complex vocabulary as I'm sure you'll discover talking to our guest speaker.

His name is Popper."

//No relation.// Popper said with a wink.

[[ooc: Information from Wikipedia and SeaWorld/Busch Gardens Animal Information Database. Please wait for OCD. Open! In case you're wondering, the penguin is from here... Or rather, 5:33 into that.]]