A five-week-old penguin chick has waddled his way into the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

Jubilee the penguin got in on the act after keepers at a wildlife park named him in honour of the Queen’s 60-year reign. The Humboldt penguin was the first chick of his kind to be born at Blair Drummond Safari Park in Stirlingshire for 12 years. He weighs just 650 grams and stands 23 centimetres tall.

He made a brief appearance from his nest to be weighed by keepers as they have been weighing the chick every day, to ensure acceptable weight gain. » See also pages 24, 25

Contraceptives for pigeons

What works for humans might as well work for birds and so the Austrian city of Linz has confronted the problem of too many pigeons by having them fed with contraceptive pills.

Since 2001 the so-called “pigeon pills” have been distributed throughout the city centre in a bid to stem the pigeon population. The German-made pill, which poses no risks to other animals, is a useful way to reduce the number of pigeons without harming them. And it is working: since 2001, the pigeon population has more than halved from 20,000 to just 9,000.

Kate’s hired hats on auction

Stylish straw hats worn by the Duchess of Cambridge when she was just plain Kate Middleton are to be auctioned. The two hats were hired for social and ceremonial events she attended with William. The hats, each estimated to fetch between £1,000 and £1,500, are being sold by Kerry Taylor Auctions, which sold Kate’s see-through net dress for £78,000.

She wore the outfit on the catwalk of a 2002 fashion show at St Andrews University, where she was studying with William, sparking his interest.