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“Hercules
is the largest of our macaroni penguins,” says
Amy Graves, senior aviculturist at the Aquarium. “He
is a big bird who is one-quarter larger than the
other macs.” Also aptly named is Poncho
the largest of the gentoos weighing in at more than
20 pounds.
Two
of the birds were hand raised at SeaWorld and are
much more accustomed to human interaction than the
penguins that were parent raised. “Nippy
for example nips at everything,” says Graves. “His
curiosity went into overdrive shortly after he got
here. He’s the first to investigate anything
new and different.” So Graves has to be
extra careful with anything Nippy could snap up with
his beak and swallow. Bug was also hand reared,
and seems to have an extra helping of curiosity. “Bug
quickly comes up to you to investigate what you have
and what you are doing, but he usually doesn’t
nip.”
Noodle
was a popular entry in the contest and turns out
to be a fitting name for a macaroni penguin that’s
the smallest of that species as well. Iggy is
the youngest macaroni at Penguins’ Rock.
Sometimes
a name may not match up with a penguin’s
most recent behavior. Consider Shamrock, a lucky
gentle name for a macaroni who seems to have a bottomless
stomach right now. “Shamrock is eating
up a storm right now,” reports Graves. “She
is usually at the keeper’s door waiting for more
fish lately.”
Four
of the macaroni penguins already had names; one male – Hercules, and three females – Little
Debbie, Shamrock and Sweet Pea. The rest were
chosen by Tennessee Aquarium guests from Chattanooga
and throughout the Southeast.
The
Winning Names and Contest Winners Are:
Macaroni
Males
Iggie - Caitlin Crowley,
Decatur, AL
Merlin – Brittany Murray,
Dalton, GA
Paulie – Stan Myatt, Murfreesboro,
TN
Macaroni
Females
Chaos – Stephen Culp,
Chattanooga, TN
Noodle – Niccole Jones,
Paducah, KY
Gentoo
Males
Big T – Allyson Ross,
Soddy Daisy, TN
Blue – Kim Hooper,
Chattanooga, TN
Nippy – Tim Richardson,
Chattanooga, TN
Poncho – Ann Walton, Chattanooga,
TN
Zeus – Niccole Click,
Cowan, TN
Gentoo
Females
Biscuit – Dawn Paschal,
Five Points, AL
Bug – Kendra Thrash,
Chattanooga, TN
Flower – Chrissy
L. Beaty, Cleveland, TN
Pebbles – Arianna
Martin, Buford, GA
Peeps – BJ Davis, Chattanooga,
TN |
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These
individuals won passes to the Tennessee Aquarium to
see “their” penguin in action. You
can see all of the penguins in action any time by logging
onto the Penguins’ Rock live webcam
at: http://www.tnaqua.org/Animals/Penguins.asp |
