Posted by: Laura Lockard, Communications/Public Affairs
What else do penguins and St. Bernards have in common, you ask? Penguins have a supraorbital gland which enables them to drink salt water in addition to fresh water. The gland withdraws excess salt from the penguins' blood and expels it in a concentrated solution (salt snot) which dribbles down its face. The penguins then give their heads a good shake which looks just like a sneeze. St. Bernards often give their heads a good shake, alleviating extra slobber from their faces. Sometimes dogs also do this because their ears itch. I wonder if penguins’ ears itch sometimes too?
I overheard a visitor at the Humboldt penguin exhibit express concern
over a “sick” penguin. I looked at the penguin, “Oh my, he is having a bad hair
day for certain.” I immediately allayed her concerns by stating, “He is just blowing
his coat.” I then quickly realized that only a large-breed dog lover would know
what that is. I couldn’t think of the bird version word for “blowing his coat.”
Wracking my brain it finally came to me. Molting! He is molting.
Penguin molting is a
perfectly normal, annual event during which they replace all of their feathers.
Penguins have more feathers than most other birds, with about 70 per square
inch. Their feathers are stiff and overlap to waterproof and insulate their
body. Molting can appear patchy as they lose a large number of feathers in a
short period of time throughout the body, with old feathers falling out before
replacement feathers grow in, a process known as catastrophic molting. Before molting, a bird eats a large amount of
food and increases its body fat. This extra fat helps fuel the molting
process. While molting, the bird’s appetite
and activity decreases.
Similarly, St. Bernards
lose all of their undercoat once a year. Like the feather molt, the dog’s “coat
blowing” makes way for new fur leaving a considerably larger mess. During this
process St. Bernards look equally disheveled. Saints bad hair days last about
one month.
Do penguins sneeze? Video courtesy of our friends at New England Aquarium.
What else do penguins and St. Bernards have in common, you ask? Penguins have a supraorbital gland which enables them to drink salt water in addition to fresh water. The gland withdraws excess salt from the penguins' blood and expels it in a concentrated solution (salt snot) which dribbles down its face. The penguins then give their heads a good shake which looks just like a sneeze. St. Bernards often give their heads a good shake, alleviating extra slobber from their faces. Sometimes dogs also do this because their ears itch. I wonder if penguins’ ears itch sometimes too?
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