What is the main idea of the passage?

King penguins use recognizable vocal patterns to reunite parents and chicks within noisy moving colonies. (The passage connects individual vocal signatures, recognition experiments, and movement toward a caller within the colony.)

Why are repeated parts of a call useful in a noisy colony?

They leave recognizable information even when other sounds cover part of the call. (The text directly links repetition with preserving the vocal signature when other calls mask part of it.)

What is a vocal “signature” here?

A distinctive sound pattern that identifies one caller (The call's signature varies by individual and lets the correct listener recognize a particular parent.)

What can king penguins not use as a street address?

A fixed nest (The opening says they cannot rely on a fixed nest as a street address.)

One Voice in a Penguin Crowd: Level 2 Reading Comprehension Questions

King penguins gather in large, noisy colonies on subantarctic islands. Parents leave to find food at sea, then return to chicks surrounded by many other birds. They cannot rely on a fixed nest as a street address. To reunite, parent and chick call and listen.

Each call carries an individual vocal signature. Its pattern changes in pitch and rhythm in a way the correct listener can recognize. Repeated parts help the signature remain useful even when other calls cover part of it. Experiments using recorded and altered calls have shown that chicks respond to important patterns in their own parent's voice.

The call does more than announce that an adult penguin is present. It identifies one caller inside a moving crowd. A chick may answer and move toward the sound, helping the pair close the distance. In this colony, a route home is not marked on the ground. It travels through the air as a learned pattern of sound.

Comprehension questions