It looks comical - a remote controlled car zipping around a penguin colony dodging irritated snaps from the birds.

But using the diminutive vehicle to study penguins, researchers have found, has has much less impact on their behaviour than being approached by a human.

Scientists say the unusual approach provides "a less invasive and stressful way to collect data on these species".

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The researchers worked with the team of nature filmmakers, who produced the penguin documentary Spy in the Huddle.

This resulted in an even more a comical-looking rover, with a fake chick sitting on top, which the researchers used to infiltrate the colony.

But the disguise was effective; the emperor penguins allowed the rover to approach close enough to read their tags. Some birds even interacted with it - vocalising at the fake chick.

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I imagine the penguins who tried to talk to the rover were saying things like "Dude! What happened to your legs? Was it sea lions? I bet it was sea lions. A sea lion once bit my sister. No, really!".