Pick up a penguin

On some occasions the prostitute penguins trick the males. They carry out the elaborate courtship ritual, which usually leads to mating.

Having bagged their stone, they would then run off.

"The courtship display is a head-bowing display," Dr Hunter said. "It usually starts with the male, who bows his head and looks out the corner of his eye."

She said she does not think the female penguins are doing it just for the stones.

"The female only takes one or two stones," she said. "It takes hundreds to build the nest to get their eggs off the ground.

"I think what they are doing is having copulation for another reason and just taking the stones as well. We don't know exactly why, but they are using the males."

She said the female penguins could also be testing potential future mates, in case their existing partner died before the next mating period.

The single male penguins appeared to have only their own pleasure as a motive.

I'm truly speechless upon reading this.