The Beastly Skua & Two Gentoo Chicks
Updated: Dec 1, 2020
We've written quite a few articles and stories on Gentoo penguins, the birds we love. Here is a story that is a sequel to the first Gentoo story. It is a story about how two helpless Gentoo chicks manage to escape a beastly skua bird, one of their greatest predators. We're creating images to go with this story, which we will load once they are ready. But until then, here is a lovely image (courtesy Shutterstock) that shows how loving Gentoos are toward their chicks.
From afar, the big, brown Skua bird named 'Scar' watched the fluffy Gentoo chicks.
Two soft, tender, and helpless Gentoo chicks.
The parents would have to leave soon. To catch fish. If they stayed back, the chicks would starve. If they left, the chicks would be unattended and at the mercy of predators...
Like himself.
Scar stretched out his wings, suddenly feeling very satisfied with life. He was big and beastly. He had a wicked beak and strong, sharp claws. He was as fearful as skuas had ever been. It was a pleasure to hunt the way he did - whether he caught birds mid-air or plucked them off their nests, like he was about to do with these two Gentoo chicks. Their parents - bless their hearts - had made a fatal mistake. Instead of making their nest near the other Gentoo nests, they had made their nest a little distance away, near the foot of a rocky hillside.
Scar unfolded and folded his wings again and watched. He was drooling.
Once the parents left, he would fly down to the chicks. They had nowhere to escape. Behind them was a hill. It would take him less than a minute to grab a chick for lunch. This, Scar said to himself, was why skuas like him were reviled, why they were hated. Every bird in the ocean or land was scared of them. Skuas hunted every bird. Skuas were mean. Skuas were vicious.
Scar waited. He was happy to bide his time.
The chicks yowled at Gentoo, their father, and Gentii, their mother.
"WE'RE HUNGRY!" they said, together in a chorus. "WE'RE SO HUNGRY."
"I know, I know!" Gentoo, their father, said. "Well, I better be off then. Not sure why there are so few fish in the ocean these days. When I was growing up, my father came back every hour with fish. Now we can feed them only two or three times a day. Where have all the fish gone? The skuas are circling us too. You stay with the chicks. I'll go. Stay until I come back."
"Yes," Gentii said, nodding at him. "Once you return, I will leave."
Gentoo waddled away.
Scar waited with bated breath. The father hadn't returned. It had been hours - at least two if not three. The mother was pacing back and forth, torn between wanting to feed her chicks and keeping them safe. She wanted to bring back fish, but didn't want to leave them alone. She cooed to the chicks, to soothe their hunger. She grunted to them to hang on a little bit longer. It was so annoying, Scar thought. Why did mothers cluck incessantly at the chicks?
As if the chicks understood a word of what they were trying to say? Why didn't she leave?
If he ate these, they could lay more eggs - couldn't they?
Scar screeched again. Mothers!
Finally, an hour later (with the chicks wilting with hunger) the mother flew off.
At last.
Scar screeched in anticipation. Two chicks - alone at last! Trapped between him and a rocky hillside. What could they do? Where would they go?
Scar waited for a second, then took off.
TO BE CONTINUED.
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