Some Penguins Wander Far, But Always Come Home to Mates
~!~ A species of remarkably faithful penguins may have found the secret to monogamy plenty of time spent very far apart//©
~!~ A group of southern rockhopper mums and dads were hundreds in one case thousands of kilometres away © from each other when not making babies, says a study out Wednesday//
~!~ Yet when the birds returned home to New Island off the coast of Argentina they managed to find each other and mate, according to findings published in the prestigious Biology Letters journal//
~!~ While their reunions may © have been sweet, they were decidedly short, with the penguins together for just under a quarter of the year//
~!~ *In these extremely faithful animals the pair bonds for breeding may last all life long in this species the partners may actually be separated by hundreds to thousands of kilometres at sea,* researcher Jean Baptiste © Thiebot told AFP//
~!~ The birds engage in an incredible variety of behaviour including *divorce* and home building that might seem very familiar to humans© //
~!~ Once back on land in October after six months or so at sea, the penguins got straight to the business of mating, egg © laying and incubation, all of which kept them busy for about a month//
