FEEDING CHASES AND FOOD ALLOCATION IN ADELIE PENGUINS, PYGOSCELIS-ADELIAE

Among penguins, well-developed feeding chases where chicks run after a dults and beg for food are found only in the genera Pygoscelis and Apt enodytes. Feeding chases involving adult Adelie penguins, with two chi cks, compared to feeding chases involving those with one chick, were l onger, occurred further from the breeding group and included more runs between each feed. Feeding chases were more likely when chicks were c lose together, and which chick was fed was more likely to switch after a feeding chase. These results suggest that feeding chases serve to m inimize harassment from other chicks during feeding and to reduce the effects of sibling competition. (C) 1997 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.