Researchers have found a new way to study penguins.

According to a report in Nature Methods, researchers reportedly created a new tool for penguin research in the form of a furry fake robot penguin that may look like a toy, but is actually a remote-controlled spy, according to the Washington Post.

The robot penguin was real enough for the other Emperor penguins to want to interact with the fake chick. The penguins were reportedly seen singing to the robot penguin.

"They were very disappointed when there was no answer," lead author Yvon Le Maho of the University of Strasbourg told Phys.org.

Le Maho added, "Next time we will have a rover [spy] playing songs."

The researchers reportedly developed this furry robot penguin in the hopes of spying on the penguins as well as other animal populations without disrupting them. Researchers reportedly hope that the robotic spy will allow them to observe and interact with the penguins without frightening them off or affecting the birds' behavior and tainting the collected data.

The robot penguins could be adapted to record audio, include cameras, or be equipped with a wider variety of sensors for environmental surveys, according to the news outlet CNET.

The full study titled "Rovers minimize human disturbance in research on wild animals" can be found online in the journal Nature Methods.