Penguins. Interesting facts about penguins. Antarctic penguins: description What penguins eat

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Penguins: generalcharacteristic

1.Wednesdaya habitatpenguins

flightless bird climate habitat

The ancestors of penguins lived in a temperate climate - when Antarctica was not yet a solid piece of ice. The climate on the planet was changing. The continents drifted, Antarctica shifted to the south pole and became covered eternal ice. The animals left there or died out, but the penguins, having adapted to the cold, remained. True, there used to be much more of them - in the course of evolution, at least 40 species that inhabited our planet became extinct more than 60 million years ago. Among the fossil penguins there were real giants (such as a penguin found not long ago in Peru, the size of a man and weighing up to 120 kg). The largest concentration of penguins is in Antarctica.

2.Typespenguins

The largest of the modern representatives is the emperor penguin - (height 110-120 cm), weight up to 46 kg, the smallest representatives of the species are the little penguin - (height 30-45 cm, weight 1-2.5 kg).

3.Buildingbody

Penguins have a streamlined body shape, which is ideal for moving in water. Their musculature and bone structure allow them to operate their wings almost like propellers underwater. Unlike other flightless birds, penguins have a sternum with a clearly defined keel, to which powerful muscles are attached.

Large feet with a swimming membrane are relatively short - when on land, animals often rest, standing on their heels, while the rigid tail feathers serve as additional support for them. The tail of penguins is greatly shortened, since the steering function, which it usually has in other waterfowl, is performed primarily by the legs in penguins. The second obvious difference between penguins and other birds is bone density. All birds have tubular bones, which makes their skeleton lighter and allows them to fly or run quickly, but in penguins they are similar to the bones of mammals (dolphins and seals) and do not contain internal cavities.

4. Thermoregulation

Within their habitat, penguins are exposed to extreme climatic conditions and have different anatomical features that allow them to adapt to these conditions. Thermal insulation is primarily served by a thick - from 2 to 3 cm - layer of fat, above which there are three layers of waterproof, short, tightly adjacent feathers and evenly distributed throughout the body. The air in the layers of feathers also effectively protects against heat loss when in water.

5. VisionAndhearing

Penguins' eyes are perfectly adapted to underwater swimming conditions; The cornea of their eyes is very flat, as a result of which birds are slightly myopic on land. Penguin ears, like those of most birds, do not have a clear external structure. When diving, they are tightly closed with special feathers, so that water does not penetrate inside the ear. Underwater, penguins make almost no sounds, but on land they communicate through calls that resemble the sounds of a trumpet and rattle. It has not yet been established whether they use hearing to track prey and detect their natural enemies.

6.Movement

The average speed that penguins develop in water is from five to ten kilometers per hour. During the day, while feeding, penguins can swim about 27 km; at a depth of more than 3 meters, birds spend an average of about 80 minutes per day. Emperor penguins are able to stay underwater for 18 minutes and dive to depths of more than 530 meters. On land, penguins reach speeds of 3-6 km/h. On ice, penguins can also move quickly - they slide down mountains while lying on their stomachs.

7.Food

Penguins eat fish and crustaceans. Penguins drink mostly sea water.

8. Reproduction

Penguins most often nest in large colonies. Both parents alternately take part in incubating the eggs and feeding the chicks.

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Basics:

Penguins are one of 40 species of flightless birds, including ostriches, ramies, cassowaries, emus and kiwis. Penguins are neither the largest nor the smallest of this group, but many consider them the most adorable.

These birds are known for their waddling gait and distinctive coloration with a white belly and dark back and wings. The tuxedo was probably invented after looking at the “outfit” of penguins. This coloring, according to biologists, helps the penguin hide from the enemy in the sea. The penguin's body is ideally built for swimming due to its shape, small wings resembling fins, and webbed feet.

The largest subspecies of penguin is emperor penguin. Average individuals of this subspecies reach a height of about 114 centimeters and weigh 41 kilograms. The smallest subspecies is little penguin , which is only 25 centimeters in height and weighs about 1.1 kilograms.

Penguins feed on marine animals: small sea crustaceans - krill, squid and various types of fish. Since they do not have teeth, penguins swallow their food whole. Penguins use their pointed beaks and rough tongues to catch prey.

Penguins spend 75 percent of their time in the ocean, but breed on shore or on ice floes.

Habitat:

Penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere, Antarctica, New Zealand, southern Australia and even southern Africa and South America. The only exception is Galapagos penguins , whose homeland is the Galapagos Islands, located in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, so penguins periodically appear in the Northern Hemisphere, swimming across the equator, but they do not live further north of these islands.

Penguins prefer to live on islands or isolated areas where there is minimal threat from land-based predators.

The ideal climate for these birds depends on the species, for example, Galapagos penguins prefer tropical islands, while emperor penguins and Adelie penguins live on ice in Antarctica.

Conservation status: Endangered

Among the 17 penguin species, 13 are endangered or seriously endangered. Several species are critically endangered.

Among the penguins whose numbers are rapidly declining are the following subspecies:

-- Great crested penguin , whose homeland is New Zealand. Over the past 20 years, it has lost about 70 percent of its population.

-- Galapagos penguin. Since the 1970s, the number of these birds has declined by 50 percent.

-- Magnificent Penguin or penguin hoiho , distributed on the islands of New Zealand. There are about 4 thousand individuals left in the wild. In 2004, he suffered due to an epidemic of a disease of unknown origin.

-- Rockhopper Penguin , living on the islands of Tristan da Cunha and Goff in the south Atlantic.

-- Spectacled penguin , common in South Africa and Namibia. Due to the collection of eggs, the number of penguins decreased many times over the 20th century.

Many penguin species are suffering due to population growth and human encroachment into their habitats, as well as the introduction of mammalian predators such as dogs, cats and ferrets, which have been introduced by humans into the areas where these birds live. Another problem is commercial fishing. Penguins are often caught in fishing nets and suffer from oil spills and algae growth.

Added to this is climate change, which plays an important role in reducing penguin populations everywhere. As temperatures rise, the ice on which penguins nest is melting, leaving them without enough space to breed.

Stereotypical parental roles are seen in emperor penguins. The male incubates the eggs while the female goes in search of food. When the chick hatches from the egg, the father feeds it with “milk”, which is produced in its esophagus.

To keep warm in icy conditions, penguins have a thick layer of fat and their bodies are covered with water-repellent feathers.

Penguins shed feathers, in place of which new ones grow, every year during the molting period, which lasts 2-3 weeks. Penguins spend a lot of time grooming themselves to ensure they look great all year round.

-- Magellanic penguin named after Ferdinand Magellan, who first discovered it in 1520 and whose name is given to the strait on the southern edge of South America, separating the island of Tierra del Fuego from the mainland. It is in these places that Magellanic penguins live.

Although most female and male penguins do not differ much in appearance from each other, during mating season, female penguins can be distinguished from males by the dirty spots on their backs that the male leaves during mating.

Penguins most often nest in large colonies, often numbering tens of thousands of pairs or more. Both parents alternately take part in incubating the eggs and feeding the chicks. The chicks feed on semi-digested fish and crustaceans regurgitated by their parents. The cubs find refuge from the cold in the lower folds of the parent's abdomen.

The age at which penguins begin mating varies by species and gender. Thus, in lesser, magnificent, subantarctic and jackass penguins, the first mating occurs at the age of two years; Female Adélie, chinstrap, king and emperor penguins generally begin mating a year later, while males of these species are ready to mate another year later. Golden-haired penguins are only ready to mate when they are five years old.

The above data are statistical averages: in practice, the older the penguins, the more time they spend in colonies until they reach the age at which they begin to mate. For example, king penguins at the age of one year most often do not visit the colony at all; in the second year of life they appear there for just a few days. In subsequent years, visits to the colony become more frequent, and the length of stay in it gradually increases. Male emperor penguins often begin to hatch eggs only in their eighth year of life.

The time of year when penguins hatch their eggs depends primarily on climatic conditions. Galapagos, little and donkey penguins living to the north can hatch chicks throughout the year, and in some cases little penguins even manage to lay two clutches a year; Almost all species living in regions from the subantarctic to the antarctic begin laying eggs primarily in spring or summer. A notable exception to this rule are emperor penguins—they lay eggs in the fall. Thus, the chicks grow just during the Antarctic winter at temperatures as low as -40 °C and ways of adapting to low temperatures play a decisive role in their survival. King penguin chicks also spend the winter in colonies further north. During this period, parents rarely give them food, so in their first winter the chicks lose significant weight. In cold Antarctic regions, one egg is hatched; in temperate and warm regions, there may be several eggs.

Penguins prefer to stay in a flock not only in water, but also on land. In particular, egg laying, incubation and chick rearing in large colonies occur simultaneously in many species. Such colonies can number up to 5 million animals.

Males of non-sedentary species often come to the colony earlier than females during the brooding period and try to occupy a small territory, the area of which rarely exceeds one square meter. Thus, their social behavior is focused on nest creation. The only exceptions are emperor penguins, who do not build nests and do not have pronounced social behavior other than relationships with a partner and their offspring.

Males try to attract the attention of females by emitting calls similar to the sound of a trumpet. If this is not the first attempt to find a partner, then often it turns out to be a female with whom the male mated last year. The “divorce rate” of penguins of different species is not the same: the percentage of magnificent penguins who chose another partner the next year is about 14, which is very low; Their loyalty to their partner is also emphasized by the fact that 12% of couples maintained a relationship for more than 7 years. The situation with Adélie penguins is different - more than 50% of animals of this species change their partner the next year, therefore, there are no known cases when relationships lasted more than 6 years. It is known that the successful brood of the previous year plays a big role in choosing a partner.

There is a close relationship between the complexity of social behavior and mate selection mechanisms, on the one hand, and the size of the colony, on the other: In large colonies, the mating rituals of cramped Adélie, chinstrap, subantarctic and crested penguins attract attention both visually and acoustically; Magnificent penguins living in dense vegetation or little penguins building nests far from each other, on the contrary, behave much more restrained.

The penguin is the only bird that can swim but cannot fly. In addition, it is the only bird that walks standing. In this topic I will tell you about these amazing creatures. Penguins are wingless waterfowl that live in their natural environment only in the lands of the southern hemisphere. Most penguins spend half their lives in the ocean and the other half on land. Basically, most penguin species are found in Antarctica and some of the other coldest areas of the hemisphere. Some few species can survive in temperate and even tropical latitudes. In general, penguins are created for life in the sea. Some species spend as much as 75% of their lives in water; they come to land only to lay eggs and wait for offspring. The heavy, hard bones act like a heavy diver's belt in the water, allowing penguins to stay underwater. Their wings, shaped like fins, help them "steer" underwater at speeds of up to 15 miles per hour. The streamlined body, paddle-like legs, insulating layer of fat and waterproof feathers all serve to make them efficient and comfortable underwater. They also have the remarkable ability to dive deeply (discussed below). In addition, in order not to lose heat, penguins have hard, very compactly arranged feathers (up to 70 per sq. cm), which provide waterproofing.

Penguins coat their feathers with fat from a gland near the tail to increase impenetrability. Their black and white coloring makes them almost invisible to predators both above and below. Like most birds, penguins have little or no sense of smell (good for them in their crowded colonies). Like other birds, penguins have limited taste buds. It is believed that their vision is better when they are underwater. Scientists suspect penguins may be nearsighted on land. Penguins are considered by scientists to be the most social birds. Colonies can contain thousands of individuals. (As many as 24 million penguins visit Antarctica!) Even at sea, they tend to swim and feed in groups. Most species of penguins build nests, but nests may only consist of rock piles, scraps, or voids in the mud. Emperor penguins do not build nests; they store the egg between their legs under a loose fold of skin called a brood pouch.

The entire body of the penguin is covered with small scale-like feathers, most of which consist of only rods, without fans. The head of some species is decorated with tufts of long, bristly feathers, while in others the tail feathers are also long. The head is small, the beak is as long as the head, straight, strong, hard, laterally compressed; the neck is of medium length, passing into an almost cone-shaped body; the legs are short, almost entirely enclosed in the skin of the body, as a result of which they allow only short steps; the fingers are highly developed, all four are directed forward, but only three of them are connected by a membrane. On the ground, the bird stands vertically, resting on the back surface of the metatarsus, but when walking, the latter stands almost vertically. Penguins walk with great difficulty, waddling; wanting to avoid danger, they lie down on their belly and glide with their wings and legs so quickly that it is difficult to catch up with them, especially on a snow-covered surface. Penguins swim and dive excellently and with amazing ease overcome the stormy waves of the open ocean - their real sphere. Unlike other birds, penguins swim using only their wings, using them alternately; the legs serve solely as a rudder and are extended straight back. Penguins' food consists of fish, crustaceans and soft-bodied animals. Penguins devote a significant part of the year to breeding and at this time tens and hundreds of thousands gather on the most secluded islands of the Antarctic ocean. At this time, even non-brooding birds live on land. They nest as they generally live - in societies. They lay two white or greenish-white eggs, which are watched by both parents in turn, since penguins have a strong habit of stealing other people's eggs. This explains the frequent fact that chicks of different species are found in the same nest. The chicks hatch thickly covered with down and grow quickly, thanks to the extremely plentiful food constantly supplied by the parents. Towards the end of hatching, the plumage of the latter is torn off to the last extent and they begin to molt, often retiring to secluded corners for this. Molting, judging by observations in captivity, proceeds very quickly, ending in about two weeks. At the same time, penguins do not go into the water and, therefore, do not feed, which is obviously easy for them, thanks to the thick layer of subcutaneous fat.
Penguin meat is very tasteless. The northernmost limit of the distribution of penguins runs in the Atlantic Ocean through the island of Tristan d'Acuña, in the Indian Ocean through the island of Amsterdam, and in the Pacific through the Galapagos Islands; they are also found near the coasts of New Zealand, South Australia, the southern tip of Africa and along the Pacific coast of South America. This family can be divided into three groups, well characterized not only by external, but also by anatomical characteristics. The first embraces forms that are large in size, have a long, thin, slightly curved beak and includes the genera Aptenodytes and Pygoscelis. it includes the Patagonian penguin (A. patagonica) and the long-billed penguin (A. longirostris). The second group - the genus Eudyptes - has a shorter beak, but high and is easily recognized by the beautiful yellow superciliary tufts of feathers. This includes the golden-haired penguin (E. chrysocome The third group has a very short beak, strongly compressed from the sides, the upper jaw is curved with a hook, the lower one is straight cut off; there is no crest. This includes the Cape penguin (Spheniscus demersus) from South Africa, Spheniscus minor from Australia and the most northern of all species - Spheniscus mendiculus from the Galapagos Islands. Fossil remains of penguins are few in number, but a large form of penguins (Palaeeudyptes antarcticus) is known from the Upper Eocene layers of New Zealand, proving the antiquity of this group of birds.

Types of penguins:

The African penguin, Spheniscus demersus, is also called the Blackfoot penguin. This penguin was found off the coast of southern Africa. African penguins can swim at speeds of approximately 4.3 to 15 miles per hour (7-24 km/h), and they also make sounds reminiscent of donkeys. The number of African (donkey) penguins has decreased so much that it is time to take urgent action. Last year in South Africa there were only 26 thousand pairs of penguins, compared to 121 thousand in 1956, and at the beginning of the last century the population of these birds reached two million individuals. Scientists are calling for urgent measures to be taken - this is the only way to stop further population decline. In addition, experts must establish what reasons caused such a sharp decline in the number of penguins. According to Peter Barham, from the University of Bristol (UK), the main factor here may be a reduction in food resources. In particular, it is likely that this was caused by overfishing of sardines and anchovies, or by the movement of fish to other areas due to global warming. It is also possible that the penguins were simply weakened by pollution environment, which affected their ability to obtain food. Other negative factors include seals preying on penguins, oil spills and a reduction in the number of cool places in the colonies suitable for breeding, caused by climate change.

Falkland Islands penguins

The Magellanic penguin is a summer resident of the islands (with an estimated population of 100,000 pairs) that arrives to breed on the islands in September. These penguins nest in burrows dug to a depth of 4 to 6 feet. It is locally nicknamed "donkey" because of its loud and harsh call, often uttered upon entering a burrow and also used to receive news from birds swimming in the sea some distance from the shore. This species feeds on small crustaceans, small fish and smaller varieties of squid than those caught by humans for sale. However, their food diet may still be a source of potential conflict with commercial fishing and other marine operations. Magellan penguins leave their nests in April, apparently heading off to winter in the waters of the Patagonian shelf or perhaps migrating far north to Brazil. Here they face problems such as poaching and oil pollution. An estimated 20,000 adults and 22,000 teenagers die along the Argentine coast every year. Research in the Falkland Islands recently showed a decline in Magellan penguin numbers of 10% each year, but because the species is highly secretive, its numbers are difficult to estimate. The Falkland Islands are one of the most important breeding grounds for birds in the world and, given the challenges faced by the species in Chile and Argentina, the survival of healthy Falkland Islands populations may be unexpectedly important to the survival of the species in general.

The Galapagos penguin is unique among other penguins in that its habitat is not the Antarctic and subantarctic regions, not even temperate ones, but the Galapagos Islands, located just a few tens of kilometers from the equator. The air temperature in their habitats ranges from +18-+28°C, water temperature - +22-+24°C. About 90% of penguins live on the islands of Fernandina and Isabela. Adults reach a height of about 50 cm and a weight of about 2.5 kg. The main diet is small fish and crustaceans. Galapagos penguins have a black head and back, a white stripe running from the throat up to the head and reaching the eyes, and the penguins are white in front. The mandible and the tip of the mandible are black, the mandible and the skin around the eyes are pinkish-yellow. Birds usually incubate eggs for 38-40 days, alternating male and female. At the age of 60-65 days, the chicks go to sea with the adults. Galapagos penguins nest near the water. The number of individuals is estimated at 1500-2000 adult birds. The GALAPAGOS PENGUIN species is listed in the International Red Book.

The magnificent penguin. The magnificent penguin is also called the yellow-eyed penguin. It belongs to the penguin family. Also known as the Antipodean penguin and Hoiho.

The emperor penguin is the largest penguin species. If he just stands hunched over on land, his height will be 90 centimeters. If he moves, then his height is as much as 110-120 centimeters. The weight of this penguin reaches 20-45 kilograms. Emperor penguins have the following differences in color: the dorsal side is dark or grayish-blue; on the head this color usually turns black. There are round yellowish-orange spots near the ears that extend to the underside of the neck, which gradually fade to white. When is the emperor penguin born? Its body is covered with white or grayish-white down. Emperor penguins nest along the shores of Antarctica, south to 78 degrees south latitude. The nesting site of emperor penguins, unlike others, occurs during a very harsh time of year - the Antarctic winter, and already at the end of the Antarctic summer the first emperor penguins are born. Usually at first they do not behave very actively, they slouch. They lead a passive lifestyle, but then the situation changes, and penguin pairs begin to form in April.

Golden-haired penguin(lat. Eudyptes crysolophus) is a genus of crested penguins. Characteristic. Having, as is typical of all penguins, a dark dorsal side with an almost black head and a white belly, they are distinguished by the presence of tufts of golden-yellow feathers above the eyes, forming a crest. The body length of golden-haired penguins is 65-76 cm. Golden-haired penguins are distributed throughout the southern Atlantic and Indian oceans. Golden-haired penguins nest on South Georgia, South Shetland, South Orkney and some other subantarctic islands. Their colonies are very numerous - up to 600 thousand nesting individuals. In total, there are at least 2 million adult golden-bellied penguins on the coasts and valleys of Macquarie Island alone. Golden-haired penguins nest on the ground, making very primitive nests. Two eggs are laid, the second four days after the first. Both eggs are fertilized, but the first is always smaller than the second, and the bird usually does not incubate it. The duration of incubation is 35 days, with changes of parents characteristic of penguins. Adult birds raise their chicks for about two to three weeks, after which a “nursery” is formed, followed by molting and going to sea around the end of January. A specific feature of golden-haired penguin colonies is a strong smell, reminiscent of rotten fish, which can be smelled several kilometers from the colony. The species GOLDEN-HAIRED PENGUIN is listed in the International Red Book.

Humboldt Penguin. This type of penguin is found only along the west coast of South America, in the zone of influence of the Peruvian Current (Foc Island). A separate colony of these penguins exists on the Puniuil Islands. In total, there are about 12,000 pairs of individuals of this species left in the world. 8 of them nest in Chile, 4 in Peru. The Humboldt penguin is listed in the Red Book as one of the endangered species. Due to the fact that there is now overfishing, the size of this population is significantly reduced. Also contributing to the population decline is the fact that some birds simply get entangled in fishing nets and die there. The size of an individual Humboldt penguin is approximately 70 centimeters. Its weight is about 4 kilograms. The Humboldt Penguin is very similar to the Magellanic Penguin. The coloration of female Humboldt penguins is similar to that of males, but the females are slightly smaller in size than the males. Penguins of this species lay eggs from March to December. Depending on where the colony is located, the peak may occur either in April-May or in September-October. This is a completely possible situation. When Humboldt penguins raise two broods per year, if environmental conditions support this.

King Penguin(lat. Aptenodytes patagonicus) is a flightless bird from the penguin family (Spheniscidae). The king penguin is similar to the emperor penguin, but is slightly smaller in size and brighter in color. The body length of the king penguin is from 91 to 96 cm. Adult birds have a gray back, large bright orange spots on the sides of the black head and on the chest. The belly is white. Chicks are brown in color. Spreading. The king penguin nests on islands near Tierra del Fuego: South Georgia, South Sandwich Islands, Marion, Crozier, Kerguelen (island), Heard, Macquarie.

The penguin can be considered a highly unusual and mysterious animal, so it is not surprising that it attracts the attention of many people. Thus, the penguin can be found in many literary works, including Gorky and Semenov-Spassky. Several animated films were also shot, for example, “The Adventures of Little Penguin Lolo” and “Catch the Wave!”, because penguins received special attention from children. Other interesting facts include the existence of the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team, which plays in the strongest hockey league on the planet, and the fact that the penguin is one of the official symbols of the Linux company.

Interesting Facts about penguins:
All penguins live in the southern hemisphere, sometimes going far to the north (to the Galapagos Islands, almost at the equator) or to densely populated cities (the North Harbor area in Sydney, Australia). Cody's homeland is Shiverpool in Antarctica, but he is happy to live on the tropical island of Pen Gu.

Penguins can stand upright because their webbed feet are located at the very end of their bodies. This is also what makes them such fast and strong swimmers, especially when combined with their oar-shaped wings. This is how Cody manages to catch up with Mikey the whale and get a ticket to the Big Z tournament.

King penguins like Jik are very good divers. In search of fish and other food, they constantly dive to a depth of 100 meters, and sometimes even 200 meters. However, Jik is lazy and would rather wait until Lani brings him edible shellfish.

Cody is a rock penguin with a fiery temperament and long yellow feathers near his eyes. They are full of energy and often jump on rocks - that's how they got their name!

Gentoo penguins, to which Lani belongs, swim the fastest of all other penguins, sometimes reaching speeds of 36 km/h. Such speed helps Lani to be an excellent rescuer.

King penguin chicks - like Katie and Chumaz - hatch naked and develop feathers within a few weeks. The chick cannot live without its parents until it grows waterproof feathers, and this can happen up to 13 months after its birth.

Can swim, but cannot fly. The penguin is the only bird that can swim but cannot fly. In addition, it is the only bird that walks standing.

Penguins have feathers that grow evenly. Only a few birds have feathers that grow evenly throughout their body; These are usually flightless species such as penguins.

Which feet should you use to walk on water? Birds that walk in shallow waters, such as herons and stilts, have long legs. Birds that walk on carpets of floating leaves and bogs are characterized by long fingers and claws to prevent them from falling through. Penguins have short, thick legs located far behind their center of gravity. For this reason, they can only walk with their body upright and in short steps. If it is necessary to move faster, they lie on their bellies and glide, as if on a sleigh, pushing off the snow with flipper-like wings and legs.

The best diver. What do penguins do at a depth of one and a half kilometers? Japanese biologists have installed cameras on the backs of animals that spend a long time in the depths of the sea. As the authors of the project explain, the sun's rays penetrate only 150 meters deep into the ocean, so it is still unknown what, for example, emperor penguins or elephant seals, which can dive one and a half kilometers, do at a depth of half a kilometer.

Can swim for three weeks. The Patagonian penguin can swim for two to three weeks and cover a distance of up to 1,500 km.

The fastest swimmer. The Gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis papua) can swim at speeds of up to 27 km/h.

Diving from the surface of the water. Penguins, loons Gavia immer, grebes, diving ducks Clangula hyemalis and many other birds dive from the surface of the water. Lacking the inertia of diving divers, they use the movements of their legs and (or) wings to dive. In such species, the legs are usually located at the rear end of the body, like a propeller under the stern of a ship. When diving, they can reduce buoyancy by pressing their feathers tightly and squeezing their air sacs.

The most evil penguin. Rock penguins have a very angry character, are noisy and aggressive.

3 February 2013 at 20:10:10| Categories: Nature , Photo

Also in the section:

In Europe, funny birds in black tailcoats became known at the beginning of the sixteenth century thanks to sailors from Portugal. Interesting facts about penguins immediately endeared them to Europeans.

The name "penguin" comes from the English word penguin. According to one of the existing versions, translated from Welsh pengwyn means white head. Which is very suitable for the description of these interesting creatures of nature. Antarctic penguins are the only birds on the planet that cannot fly, but at the same time swim well and move on land.

Antarctic penguin species

This family includes about twenty species. People know many interesting facts about penguins. Representatives of each species have their own curious characteristics that distinguish them from each other.

Magellanic and magnificent penguins are one of the world's most endangered species.

Adélie is the most common species of the entire family. received the name of the area where they were first noticed - Adélie Land.

Galapagos are the northern representatives of the genus. They live very close to the equator in the Galapagos archipelago in high temperatures that are not typical for penguins. These cuties, unfortunately, may soon disappear from the face of the Earth; they are threatened with extinction.

Gentoo - this species is the third largest after emperor and king penguins.

Stone - these representatives of the family are aggressive and loud, they are distinguished by the most evil disposition.

Imperials are the most famous species throughout the world. In addition to their large size, they stand out among their fellows for their extraordinary tolerance of severe frosts. These birds don't mind the cold. They are even found on the mainland of Antarctica.

It is very sad to note the fact that in our time most species are under threat of extinction.

Natural habitat of penguins

Penguins naturally live only in the southern hemisphere of the planet. Their habitat is Antarctica, Australia, Africa and New Zealand. Birds are found in the tropics, but this does not mean that in local water bodies the Galapagos Islands are the warmest habitat for flightless birds. The largest populations of penguins are observed on the coast of Antarctica, nearby islands and huge ice floes.

Description

Antarctic penguins, depending on the species category, differ significantly from each other in weight, height and appearance. Their weight can vary from 1 to 45-50 kg, and their height ranges from 30 cm to 1 meter, although some individuals are found much taller and more massive. It depends on the climate in which the birds live. In those places where the air temperature is lower, the largest species live, with the emperor penguin taking first place on this list. The smallest penguins live in New Zealand and Australia, this species is called "little penguins". Their weight is only about one kilogram.

The body of birds is streamlined, thanks to this they can swim freely and deftly under water. They have developed muscles, muscle mass makes up about 30% of the total body weight. The bones are dense without cavities; this distinguishes penguins from flying birds, whose bones are tubular and light.

Three layers of numerous waterproof “hairs” are the plumage of handsome men in “tailcoats”. The air between the feathers warms the body while swimming in cold water. During the molting period, the plumage completely changes. During the change of “clothes,” the birds cannot swim, so they are forced to remain hungry until they “change” into new feathers. It is worth noting that penguins do not freeze thanks to a three-centimeter layer of fat.

What do penguins eat?

While underwater, cute divers see very well, much better than on land. To the question of what penguins eat, the answer is simple - fish. Schooling species of these marine inhabitants form the basis of their diet. Sardine, horse mackerel, and anchovy are the favorite foods of birds. This diet is diluted with squid and krill.

Throughout the day, the penguin dives underwater 300 to 900 times to get food. During hatching of eggs and molting, when it is not possible to go fishing, birds can lose half of their total weight.

Wild Lifestyle

A group of penguins communicate with each other using exclamations, and each species has its own sounds. Spectacled penguins produce calls that resemble those of donkeys.

As mentioned earlier, these cute creatures cannot fly, although they have wings, but they swim and dive excellently, and in extremely cold conditions. Underwater they are able to move at a speed of 10 km/h, but this is only on average. At short distances, the Gentoo penguin, which is distinguished by its speed, can reach speeds of up to 30-35 km/h.

Birds that are accustomed to it can stay under water for 1-1.5 minutes without a break, while diving to a depth of 15-20 meters. But again, among all species there are record divers. The emperor penguin easily dives to a depth of about 500 meters and spends up to 15-18 minutes there.

Birds jump out of the water, the height of their jump can be up to 2 meters, thanks to this they immediately find themselves on land. While on the shore, these excellent swimmers behave very clumsily. They walk slowly, waddling from side to side, partly in this way penguins save heat and energy. Where there is even the slightest ice slide, the birds fall on their bellies and slide down, as if on a sled.

Reproduction

During the breeding season, penguins gather in large colonies to raise their chicks. The mating season for different species occurs at different times. To hatch eggs, birds build nests from what they have at hand. It could be stones, grass, leaves. The exception is emperor and king penguins; they place their eggs in a special fold on their belly. There they stay until the chicks hatch.

The incubation period lasts from one to two months. If initially there were two eggs and two chicks hatched, then the parents give all their attention to their first-born, and the second baby, as a result of such an unfair attitude of mom and dad, may die of hunger, which is what happens in most cases.

Natural enemies

The lives of penguins are constantly in danger. In nature, these cute creatures have plenty of enemies, not counting the destructive human activities, which have the greatest impact on the decline in the Antarctic bird population.

The hardest thing is for little penguins, about 50% of which die in the first year of their lives. The main enemies of the chicks are, for example, the giant southern petrel. In addition to the danger of dying from claws, babies are constantly at risk of death from starvation.

Marine predators are considered the natural enemies of adult penguins. These include sharks, killer whales, seals, leopards and About 6-10% of birds die as a result of collisions with these animals.

To the above, we can also add that feral dogs abandoned by people are also very dangerous for settlements of clumsy creatures that are unable to escape from enemies on land. In the twentieth century, entire colonies of penguins were destroyed by wild dogs on the Galapagos Islands.

A lot of interesting things happen in the colonies of these flightless birds of different species. We will now present to your attention some interesting facts about penguins:

Real “kindergartens” are being created in penguin colonies. Chicks aged 4-6 weeks gather in one place, and several adult “educators” are left to watch the babies. Parents, therefore, can devote all their free time to searching for food for themselves and their chicks.
. Watching penguins, you can see that when they approach the shore, at first they just stand, looking at each other; no one dares to dive for a long time. After some time, there is one pioneer who boldly jumps into the water. Everyone else immediately rushes after him. This behavior is called the “penguin effect.” By the way, the same situations often arise among people.

To swim faster, penguins move by jumping out of the water, like dolphins.
. Birds can drink salty sea water because they have special glands that remove excess salt from the body.
. During warming, in order not to fall through the ice, penguins move by sliding on their stomachs, pushing off with their paws and wings.