The penguin is a flightless bird that belongs to the penguin-like order, the penguin family (Spheniscidae).
The origin of the word "penguin" has 3 versions. The first suggests a combination of the Welsh words pen (head) and gwyn (white), which originally referred to the now-extinct great auk. Due to the similarity of the penguin with this bird, the definition was transferred to him. According to the second version, the name of the penguin was given by the English word pinwing, which means “hairpin wing”. The third version is the Latin adjective pinguis, meaning "thick".
Penguin - description, characteristics, structure
All penguins can swim and dive excellently, but they cannot fly at all. On land, the bird looks rather awkward due to the structural features of the body and limbs. The penguin has a streamlined body shape with highly developed musculature of the pectoral keel, which often makes up a quarter of the total mass. The body of the penguin is quite well-fed, slightly compressed from the sides and covered with feathers. Not too large head is on a mobile, flexible and rather short neck. The penguin's beak is strong and very sharp.
As a result of evolution and lifestyle, penguin wings have changed into elastic flippers: when swimming under water, they rotate in the shoulder joint according to the screw principle. The legs are short and thick, have 4 fingers connected by swimming membranes.
Unlike other birds, the penguin's legs are significantly extended back, which forces the bird to keep its body strictly upright while on land.
To maintain balance, the penguin is helped by a short tail, consisting of 16-20 hard feathers: if necessary, the bird simply leans on it, as if on a stand.
The skeleton of a penguin does not consist of hollow tubular bones, which is common for other birds: the bones of a penguin are more similar in structure to the bones of marine mammals. For optimal thermal insulation, the penguin has an impressive supply of fat with a layer of 2-3 centimeters.
The plumage of penguins is dense and dense: individual small and short feathers cover the body of a bird like a tile, protecting it from getting wet in cold water. The color of feathers in all species is almost identical - a dark (usually black) back and a white belly.
Once a year, the penguin molts: new feathers grow at different rates, pushing out the old feather, so the bird often has an untidy, ragged appearance during the molting period.
During molting, penguins are only on land, trying to hide from gusts of wind and eat absolutely nothing.
The sizes of penguins differ depending on the species: for example, the emperor penguin reaches 117-130 cm in length and weighs from 35 to 40 kg, and the small penguin has a body length of only 30-40 cm, while the weight of the penguin is 1 kg.
In search of food, penguins are able to spend a lot of time under water, plunging into its thickness by 3 meters and covering distances of 25-27 km. The speed of a penguin in the water can reach 7-10 km per hour. Some species dive to a depth of 120-130 meters.
During the period when penguins are not concerned with mating games and caring for their offspring, they move quite far from the coast, sailing into the sea at a distance of up to 1000 km.
On land, if it is necessary to move quickly, the penguin lies on its belly and, pushing off with its limbs, quickly slides over ice or snow.
With this method of movement, penguins develop a speed of 3 to 6 km / h.
The life expectancy of a penguin in nature is 15-25 years or more. In captivity, with ideal bird keeping, this figure sometimes increases to 30 years.
Enemies of penguins in nature
Unfortunately, the penguin has enemies in its natural habitat. Seagulls are happy to peck at penguin eggs, and helpless chicks are tasty prey for skua. Fur seals, killer whales, leopard seals and sea lions hunt penguins in the sea. They will not refuse to diversify their menu with a well-fed penguin and sharks.
What do penguins eat?
Penguins eat fish, crustaceans, plankton and small cephalopods. The bird enjoys eating krill, anchovies, sardines, Antarctic silverfish, small octopuses and squid. For one hunt, a penguin can make from 190 to 800-900 dives: it depends on the type of penguin, climatic conditions and food needs. The oral apparatus of the bird works on the principle of a pump: through its beak, it sucks in medium-sized prey along with water. On average, while feeding, birds swim about 27 kilometers and spend about 80 minutes a day at a depth of more than 3 meters.
The geographical distribution of these birds is quite extensive, but they prefer coolness. Penguins live in the cold zones of the Southern Hemisphere, mainly their concentrations are observed in the Antarctic and in the Subantarctic region. They also live in southern Australia and South Africa, are found almost along the entire coastline. South America- from the Falkland Islands to the territory of Peru, near the equator they live in the Galapagos Islands.
Classification of the Penguin family (Spheniscidae)
The order Penguin-like (Sphenisciformes) includes the only modern family - Penguins, or Penguins (Spheniscidae), in which 6 genera and 18 species are distinguished (according to the datazone.birdlife.org database dated November 2018).
Genus Aptenodytes J. F. Miller, 1778 - Emperor penguins
- Aptenodytes forsteri R. Gray, 1844 – Emperor penguin
- Aptenodytes patagonicus F. Miller, 1778 - King penguin
Genus Eudyptes Vieillot, 1816 - Crested penguins
- Eudyptes chrysocome(J. R. Forster, 1781) - Crested penguin, rocky golden-haired penguin
- Eudyptes chrysolophus(J. F. von Brandt, 1837) - Golden-haired penguin
- Eudyptes moseleyi Mathews & Iredale, 1921 – Northern crested penguin
- Eudyptes pachyrhynchus R. Gray, 1845 - Thick-billed or Victoria penguin
- Eudyptes robustus Oliver, 1953 - Snare crested penguin
- Eudyptes schlegeli Finsch, 1876 – Schlegel's penguin
- Eudyptes sclateri Buller, 1888 - Great crested penguin
Genus Eudyptula Bonaparte, 1856 - Little penguins
- Eudyptula minor(J. R. Forster, 1781) - Little penguin
Genus Megadyptes Milne-Edwards, 1880 - Magnificent penguins
- Megadyptes antipodes(Hombron & Jacquinot, 1841) - Yellow-eyed penguin, or magnificent penguin
Genus Pygoscelis Wagler, 1832- Antarctic penguins
- Pygoscelis adeliae(Hombron & Jacquinot, 1841) - Adélie Penguin
- Pygoscelis antarcticus(J. R. Forster, 1781) - Antarctic penguin
- Pygoscelis papua(J. R. Forster 1781) - gentoo penguin
Genus Spheniscus Brisson, 1760 - Spectacled penguins
- Spheniscus demersus(Linnaeus, 1758) - Spectacled penguin
- Spheniscus humboldti Meyen, 1834 - Humboldt penguin
- Spheniscus magellanicus(J. R. Forster, 1781) - Magellanic penguin
- spheniscus mendiculus Sundevall, 1871 - Galapagos penguin
Types of penguins, photos and names
The modern classification of penguins includes 6 genera and 19 species. Below are descriptions of several varieties:
- emperor penguin ( Aptenodytes forsteri)
this is the largest and heaviest penguin: the weight of the male reaches 40 kg with a body length of 117-130 cm, the females are somewhat smaller - with a height of 113-115 cm, they weigh an average of 32 kg. The plumage on the back of the birds is black, the belly is white, in the neck area there are characteristic spots of orange or bright yellow. Emperor penguins live on the coast of Antarctica.
- king penguin ( Aptenodytes patagonicus)
very similar to the emperor penguin, but differs from it in a more modest size and feather color. The size of the king penguin varies from 90 to 100 cm. The weight of the penguin is 9.3-18 kg. In adults, the back is dark gray, sometimes almost black, the abdomen is white, there are bright orange spots on the sides of the dark head and in the chest area. The habitats of this bird are the South Sandwich Islands, the islands of Tierra del Fuego, Crozet, Kerguelen, South Georgia, Macquarie, Heard, Prince Edward, the coastal waters of the Lusitania Bay.
- Adelie Penguin ( Pygoscelis adeliae)
medium sized bird. The length of the penguin is 65-75 cm, weight - about 6 kg. The back is black, the belly is white, a distinctive feature is a white ring around the eyes. Adélie penguins live in Antarctica and on the island territories adjacent to it: the Orkney and South Shetland Islands.
- Northern crested penguin ( Eudyptes moseleyi)
endangered species. The length of the bird is approximately 55 cm, average weight about 3 kg. The eyes are red, the abdomen is white, the wings and back are gray-black. Yellow eyebrows smoothly merge into tufts of yellow feathers located on the side of the eyes. Black feathers stick out on the penguin's head. This species differs from the southern crested penguin (lat. Eudyptes chrysocome) in shorter feathers and narrower eyebrows. The main part of the population lives on the islands of Gough, Inaccessible and Tristan da Cunha, located in the southern Atlantic Ocean.
- Golden-haired penguin (golden-haired penguin) ( Eudyptes chrysolophus)
has a color typical of all penguins, but differs in one feature in appearance: this penguin has a spectacular bunch of golden feathers above the eyes. The body length varies between 64-76 cm, the maximum weight is a little over 5 kg. Golden-haired penguins live along the southern shores of the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic, are slightly less common in the northern part of Antarctica and Tierra del Fuego, and nest on other islands of the Subantarctic.
- gentoo penguin ( Pygoscelis papua)
the largest penguin in size after the emperor and king. The length of the bird reaches 70-90 cm, the weight of the penguin is from 7.5 to 9 kg. The black back and white belly are a typical color of birds of this species, the beak and paws are painted in an orange-red hue. The habitat of penguins is limited to Antarctica and the islands of the Subantarctic zone (Prince Edward Island, South Sandwich and Falkland Islands, Heard Island, Kerguelen, South Georgia, South Orkney Islands).
- Magellanic Penguin ( Spheniscus magellanicus)
has a body length of 70-80 cm and a weight of about 5-6 kg. The plumage color is typical for all penguin species, a feature is 1 or 2 black stripes in the neck. Magellanic penguins nest on the Patagonian coast, on the islands of Juan Fernandez and the Falklands, small groups live in southern Peru and in Rio de Janeiro.
- Pygoscelis antarctica)
reaches a height of 60-70 cm and weighs no more than 4.5 kg. The back and head are painted dark gray, the belly of the penguin is white. A black stripe runs across the head. Antarctic penguins live on the coast of Antarctica and the islands adjacent to the continent. They are also found on icebergs in Antarctica and the Falkland Islands.
- spectacled penguin, he is donkey penguin, black-footed penguin or African penguin ( Spheniscus demersus)
reaches a length of 65-70 centimeters and weighs from 3 to 5 kg. Distinctive feature birds is a narrow strip of black, curving in the shape of a horseshoe and passing along the belly - from the chest to the paws. Spectacled penguin lives on the coast of Namibia and South Africa, nests along the coastline of islands with a cold Bengal current.
- little penguin ( Eudyptula minor)
the smallest penguin in the world: the bird has a height of 30-40 cm and a weight of about 1 kg. The back of the little penguin is colored blue-black or dark gray, the chest area and the upper part of the legs are white or light gray. Penguins live on the coast of South Australia, in Tasmania, New Zealand and on the adjacent islands - Stewart and Chatham.
penguin breeding
Penguins are collective birds. In the water element, they keep in flocks, on land they form colonies, the number of individuals in which reaches several tens and even hundreds of thousands. All representatives of the penguin family are monogamous and create permanent pairs.
The readiness for mating and incubation of offspring in penguins depends on the species and gender. Usually, males mature later than females, some species are ready for the appearance of penguins at the age of 2 years, other varieties of penguins begin to think about offspring a year later, others become parents only at the age of five (for example, golden-haired penguins).
During the mating season, males make rather loud sounds, reminiscent of the sound of a trumpet, trying to attract the attention of females.
Penguins nest most often on low rocky shores, while some species make primitive nests from pebbles and sparse vegetation, while others choose depressions in the rocks.
Usually 2 eggs appear in the clutch, sometimes one, very rarely three. The penguin egg is white or slightly greenish in color. Both parents incubate the eggs, replacing each other during absences for food. Incubation period lasts from 30 to 100 days depending on the type of bird.
Penguin chicks hatch blind, with thick fluff on their bodies, and begin to see clearly after a couple of weeks. The weight of a newborn penguin varies depending on the species and can reach 300 grams. Despite parental care, more than 60% of chicks die from starvation, low temperatures and skuas attacks.
For about 20 days, the penguin chicks are under constant care, but after three weeks of care, the parents leave their babies, only occasionally bringing them food. This factor leads to the fact that slightly grown up penguins begin to unite in groups called by scientists “kindergartens” or “nurseries”.
Often the period of formation of such "nurseries" falls on the time when immature penguins or birds return to the colony from sea voyages, for some reason they have lost their clutches. These individuals are actively involved in caring for the young, participate in their feeding and protect from predatory skuas, thereby increasing the survival rate of the still defenseless chicks.
Until the first molt, the penguins are exclusively on land, plunging into the water for the first time only with the appearance of thick, almost waterproof plumage.
Do they eat penguins?
It is difficult to give a definite answer to such a question. Today, a person is unlikely to decide on such a delicacy, although in extreme conditions everything can be. According to some reports, penguin meat dishes include in their menu some peoples inhabiting the territory of Antarctica.
Confirmed evidence of the use of penguin meat for food is the information in the book "Antarctic Odyssey" by author R. Priestley. It describes in detail the hunt for penguins by members of the expedition in order not to die of hunger due to lack of provisions. True, this happened quite a long time ago, at the beginning of the 20th century, and was caused by unforeseen circumstances, when the duration of the expedition unexpectedly increased. According to participants, the penguin breast was valued for its nutritional value due to its fat content and tasted good.
- Among the penguins there are champion swimmers: gentoo penguins reach speeds in the water up to 32-36 km / h.
- The Magellanic penguin got its name from a famous traveler who discovered an unusual flightless bird in 1520 near the island of Tierra del Fuego.
- On land, the penguin is very clumsy and quite often, throwing its head back sharply, loses its balance and falls on its back. From this position, the bird can no longer rise on its own, therefore, at many polar stations, an amazing profession has appeared - a penguin lifter, or a penguin flipper. This person helps the penguins roll over and assume the bird's normal upright position.
Ecology
Main:
Penguins are one of 40 species of flightless birds, among which you can find ostriches, ramies, cassowaries, emus and kiwis. Penguins are neither the largest nor the smallest of this group, but they are considered by many to be the most adorable.
These birds are known for their waddling gait, original coloration with a white belly and dark back and wings. The tuxedo was probably invented by looking at the "outfit" of the penguins. This coloring, according to biologists, helps the penguin to hide from the enemy in the sea. The body of a penguin is ideally built for swimming due to its shape, small wings resembling fins, and webbed feet.
The largest subspecies of the penguin is emperor penguin. The 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 high and weighs about 1.1 kilograms.
Penguins feed on marine animals: small marine crustaceans - krill, squid and various types of fish. Since they have no teeth, penguins swallow their food whole. In order to catch prey, penguins use their pointed beaks and rough tongues.
Penguins spend 75 percent of their time in the ocean, but they breed on the 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, therefore, penguins periodically appear in the Northern Hemisphere, crossing the equator line, but they do not live further north of these islands.
Penguins prefer to live on islands or in isolated areas where there is minimal threat from terrestrial predators.
The ideal climate for these birds depends on the species, for example, Galapagos penguins prefer tropical islands, while emperor penguins and Adélie penguins live on ice in Antarctica.
Conservation status: Endangered
Among the 17 species of penguins, 13 are endangered or seriously endangered. Several species are in critical danger.
Among the penguins that are rapidly declining are the following subspecies:
-- Great crested penguin which is native to New Zealand. Over the past 20 years, lost about 70 percent of the population.
-- Galapagos penguin. Since the 1970s, the number of these birds has declined by 50 percent.
-- Magnificent penguin or hoiho penguin , common on the islands of New Zealand. AT wild nature There are about 4,000 left. In 2004, he suffered from an epidemic of a disease of unknown origin.
-- Rockhopper Penguin living on the islands of Tristan da Cunha and Goff in the southern part of the Atlantic.
-- spectacled penguin common in South Africa and Namibia. Due to the collection of eggs, the number of penguins has decreased many times over the 20th century.
Many penguin species are suffering due to population growth and human intervention in their habitat, as well as the introduction of mammalian predators such as dogs, cats and ferrets, which were brought by humans to the areas where these birds live. Another problem is commercial fishing. Penguins are often caught in fishing nets, suffering from oil spills and algae growth.
Added to this is climate change, which is playing a role important role in declining penguin populations across the board. As the temperature rises, the ice on which the penguins nest is melting, so they do not have enough space to breed.
Stereotypical parental roles are spied on by 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 "milk" that is produced in its esophagus.
In order to keep warm in icy conditions, penguins have a thick layer of fat, and their body is covered with water-repellent feathers.
Penguins shed their feathers to grow new ones every year during their molting season, which lasts 2-3 weeks. Penguins spend a lot of time caring for their appearance in order to have a beautiful view all year round.
-- Magellanic penguin named after Ferdinand Magellan, who first discovered it in 1520 and whose name is the strait on the southern edge of South America that separates 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, during the mating season, female penguins can be distinguished from males by the dirty spots on their backs that the male leaves during mating.
Of the seven species of penguins that live in Antarctica, the emperor penguin, the largest, lives farthest south. He breeds his chicks in winter shelf ice; this is perhaps the only bird that never sets foot on the ground in its life. The female, having laid an egg, passes it to the male, who, holding it on its paws and warming it with a leathery fold of the abdomen, incubates it for 65 days. 
If it gets cold, the chicks, sitting on the paws of their parents, hide in the fold of the abdomen, similar to a hood.
Emperor penguins look for places to hatch their chicks at the beginning of the Antarctic winter, in March. The largest of the 30 known colonies has 50,000 birds. Male and female, who create a family once and for all life, recognize each other in this confusion by typical gestures, such as bows, and trumpet calls. In mid-June, they lay one pear-shaped egg. Now the female carefully passes it to the male for incubation. The mothers then leave the colony, going in long lines to the edge of the pack ice, where they eat after a two-month fast. 
A "fur coat" of feathers protects the penguin from the cold, but it allows water to pass through. Therefore, he will be able to go into the water only after the first molt.
The fathers are left alone in the grip of the harsh Antarctic winter. They stand resignedly in the midst of pitch darkness, hurricane blizzards rage around, wind speeds sometimes reach 200 km / h, and average temperatures are minus 20 ° C. To avoid losing precious heat, the males move tightly into a circle, and turn their backs outward. During incubation, they lose up to 40% of their mass. 
Emperor penguins take care not only of their own, but also of other people's chicks. This is how "kindergartens" are formed. Clinging to each other, teenagers protect themselves from the cold and from enemies.
Mothers return by the time the chicks hatch. They come "home", plump, rounded, with a goiter stuffed with food taken from the sea, and now they take care of the chicks. The next month and a half, the newborn spends on the feet of one or the other parent. They, replacing each other in turn, get food until the child grows up; at this time, under the supervision of several adult birds, "kindergartens" are formed. Groups of fluffy chicks, huddled together to protect themselves from the cold and enemies, sit tightly pressed against each other. Now parents can go to the sea and get their own food. At the beginning of summer, the ice on the sea breaks up and the colony breaks up. Now young birds must shed and dress in waterproof plumage in order to hunt at sea from now on. During the short Antarctic summer, juveniles in the open pack ice zone will grow to the size of adult animals. Penguins live on average up to 25 years, unless, of course, their life is cut short by a killer whale - their worst enemy.
It is vital for emperor penguins to start hatching chicks already in the dark winter: only then will the chicks have time to mature by the beginning of summer.
The penguin is the only bird that can swim but cannot fly. In addition, it is the only bird that walks standing up. In this thread, 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 live in Antarctica and in some of the other coldest areas of the hemisphere. Some rare species can survive in temperate and even tropical latitudes. In general, penguins are designed to live in the sea. Some species spend as much as 75% of their lives in the water, only getting out to land to lay their eggs and wait for their offspring. The heavy, hard bones act like a heavy diver's belt in the water, allowing the penguins to stay underwater. Their wings, shaped like flippers, help them "steer" underwater at speeds up to 15 miles per hour. A streamlined body, paddle-like legs, an insulating layer of fat and waterproof feathers all contribute to their efficient and comfortable stay under water. They also have a remarkable ability to dive deep (this will be discussed below). In addition, in order not to lose heat, penguins have hard, very compact feathers (up to 70 cm2) that provide waterproofing.
Penguins cover their feathers with fat from a gland near the tail to increase impermeability. The black and white coloring makes them almost invisible to predators both from 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 eyesight is better when they are underwater. Scientists suspect that 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 penguin species build nests, but nests may only consist of piles of rocks, scrapings, or voids in mud. Emperor penguins do not build nests; they store the egg between their legs under a free fold of skin called a brood pocket.
The entire body of the penguin is covered with small scaly feathers, most of which consist of rods alone, without fans. The head of some species is decorated with tufts of long, bristle-like 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, passes into an almost cone-shaped torso; legs are short, almost entirely enclosed in the skin of the body, as a result of which they allow only short steps; fingers are strongly developed, all four are directed forward, but only three of them are connected by a membrane. On the ground, the bird is held vertically, leaning 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, lie on their belly and glide with the help of 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 with the help of wings alone, putting them into action one by one; the legs serve solely as a rudder and are extended straight back. The food of penguins consists of fish, crustaceans and soft-bodied. 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-hatching birds live on land. They nest, as they live in general - in societies. They lay two white or greenish-white eggs, which are watched in turn by both parents, since penguins have a highly developed habit of stealing other people's eggs. This explains the frequent fact of finding chicks in the same nest. various kinds. The chicks hatch densely covered with down and grow quickly, thanks to the extremely abundant food continuously delivered by their parents. By the end of hatching, the plumage of the latter is frayed to the last limits and they begin to molt, often retiring to secluded corners for this. The molt, judging by observations in captivity, goes very quickly, ending in two weeks. At the same time, penguins do not go into the water and, therefore, do not eat, which, obviously, is easily tolerated by them, thanks to a thick layer of subcutaneous fat.
Penguin meat is very tasteless. The northernmost boundary of the distribution of penguins passes 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 coast 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 features. The first embraces forms that have a large size, a long, thin, slightly curved beak and contains 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 but taller beak and is easily recognized by the beautiful yellow superciliary tufts of feathers. It includes the golden-haired penguin (E. chrysocome ) In the third group, the beak is very short, strongly compressed from the sides, the upper jaw is hooked, the lower one is cut straight; there is no crest. n Cape (Spheniscus demersus) from South Africa, Spheniscus minor from Australia and the northernmost of all species - Spheniscus mendiculus from the Galapagos Islands. Fossil remains of penguins are not numerous, but a large form of P. (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 South Africa. African penguins can swim at a speed of approximately 4.3 to 15 miles per hour (7-24 km/h), and they make sounds similar to donkeys. The number of African (donkey) penguins has declined 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 action - the only way to stop further decline in the population. In addition, experts must establish what causes such a sharp decline in the number of penguins. According to Peter Barham, representing the University of Bristol (UK), the main factor here may be the reduction of food resources. In particular, it is highly likely that overfishing for sardines and anchovies, or the movement of fish to other areas due to global warming. It is also possible that the penguins simply weakened under the influence of pollution. environment which affected their ability to obtain food. Other negative factors cited are penguin-hunting fur seals, oil spills, and a reduction in cool breeding grounds in colonies due to climate change.
Penguins of the Falklands
The Magellanic Penguin is a summer islander (estimated at 100,000 pairs) who arrives to breed in the islands in September. These penguins nest in burrows dug to a depth of 4 to 6 feet. The local nickname "donkey" is derived from its loud and harsh cry, often uttered at the entrance to the hole, and also used to receive news from birds swimming in the sea at some distance from the coast. This species feeds on small crustaceans, small fish and smaller varieties of squid than those caught by man for sale. However, their diet can still be a source of potential conflict with commercial fisheries and other maritime operations. Magellan penguins leave their nests in April, apparently going to winter in the waters of the Patagonian shelf or possibly 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 each year. Studies in the Falkland Islands have recently shown a 10% decline in Magellanic penguin populations each year, but since the species is well-hidden in their colonies, it is difficult to estimate their numbers. The Falkland Islands is one of the world's most important nesting sites for birds and given the problems faced by this species in Chile and Argentina, the survival of healthy populations of the Falkland Islands may be surprisingly 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, but the Galapagos Islands located just a few tens of kilometers from the equator. The air temperature in the habitats ranges from + 18- + 28 ° С, water - + 22- + 24 ° С. 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, crustaceans. The Galapagos penguins have a black head and back, there is a white stripe running from the throat up to the head and reaching the eyes, in front the penguins are white. 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, male and female alternately. At the age of 60-65 days, the chicks go to sea with 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 penguin is magnificent. The magnificent penguin is also called yellow-eyed. It belongs to the penguin family. Also known as Antipodes Penguin and Hoiho.
The emperor penguin is the largest penguin species. If he just stands on land hunched over, then his height will be equal to 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 patches near the ears, which fade into the underside of the neck, and which gradually fade to white. When an emperor penguin is born. Its body is covered with white or grayish-white fluff. Emperor penguins nest along the coasts of Antarctica, as far south as 78 degrees south latitude. The nesting of emperor penguins, unlike the others, falls on a very hard time year - for 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 stoop. They lead a passive lifestyle, but then the situation changes, and already in April penguin pairs begin to form.
golden haired penguin(lat.Eudyptes crysolophus) - 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 part of the 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 general, there are at least 2 million adult golden-haired penguins on the coasts and in the valleys of Macquarie Island alone. Golden-haired penguins nest on the ground, arranging very primitive nests. 2 eggs are laid, the second four days after the first. Both eggs are fertilized, but the first is always smaller than the second, and usually the bird does not incubate it. The duration of incubation is 35 days, with changes of parents characteristic of penguins. Adult birds raise chicks for about two to three weeks, after which "nurseries" are formed, followed by molting and leaving for the sea around the end of January. A specific feature of golden-haired penguin colonies is a strong smell, reminiscent of the smell of rotten fish, which can be felt several kilometers from the colony. The GOLDEN-HAIRED PENGUIN species is listed in the International Red Book.
Penguin Humboldt. This species of penguins is found only along the western coast of South America, in the zone of influence of the Peruvian Current (Fork Island). A separate colony of these penguins exists on the Punihuil Islands. In total, about 12,000 pairs of individuals of this species remain 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 now there is overfishing, the number of this population is significantly reduced. Also, the fact that some of the birds simply get entangled in fishing nets and die there also contributes to a decrease in the population. The size of a 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 than the males. Penguins of this species lay their eggs from March to December. Depending on where the colony is located, the peak can be either April-May or September-October. The situation is quite possible. When Humboldt penguins raise two broods at once a year, if environmental conditions favor it.
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, on the sides black head and large bright orange spots on the chest. The belly is white. Brown chicks. Spreading. The king penguin breeds on islands near Tierra del Fuego: South Georgia, South Sandwich Islands, Marion, Crozier, Kerguelen (island), Heard, Macquarie.
The penguin can be considered an animal of the highest degree unusual and mysterious, so it is not surprising that it attracts the attention of many people. So 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 Lolo the Penguin" and "Catch the Wave!", because the penguins enjoyed 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, as well as 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 climbing far north (to the Galapagos Islands, almost at the equator) or to densely populated cities (North Harbor area in Sydney, Australia). Cody's homeland is Shiverpool in Antarctica, but he is happy to live on the tropical island of Peng Gu.
Penguins can stand upright because their webbed feet are located at the very end of their torso. This also makes them such fast and strong swimmers, especially when combined with paddle-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 Jick 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 clams.
Cody belongs to a rocky penguin species with a fiery temperament and long yellow feathers near the eyes. They are full of energy and often jump over rocks - that's how they got their name!
Papuan penguins, to which Lani belongs, swim faster than all other penguins, sometimes reaching speeds of 36 km / h. Such speed helps Lani to be an excellent rescuer.
King penguin chicks, like Cathy and Chumaz, hatch naked from their eggs and grow feathers over the course of a few weeks. A chick cannot live without its parents until it grows waterproof feathers, which can happen up to 13 months after it is born.
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 up.
In penguins, feathers grow evenly. Only in a few birds do feathers grow evenly throughout the body; usually flightless species such as penguins.
Which feet to walk on water? Birds walking in shallow water, such as herons and stilts, are characterized by long legs. Birds that walk on carpets of floating leaves and bogs are characterized by long fingers and claws so as not to fall through. Penguins have short and thick legs located far behind the center of gravity. For this reason, they can only walk with their bodies upright, in short steps. If it is necessary to move faster, they lie on their belly and glide like on a sleigh, pushing off the snow with flipper 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 sea depths. As the authors of the project explain, Sun rays penetrate only 150 meters deep into the ocean, so it is still unknown what they are doing at half a kilometer depth, for example, emperor penguins or elephant seals, which can dive one and a half kilometers.
Can sail three weeks. The Patagonian penguin can swim for two to three weeks and cover a distance of up to 1500 km.
The fastest swimmer. The gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis papua) can swim at speeds up to 27 km/h.
They dive 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 momentum of dive 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 the feathers tightly and squeezing the air sacs.
The most evil penguin. Stone penguins are very angry, noisy and aggressive.
February 3, 2013 at 20:10:10| Categories:Nature , Photo
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In Europe, funny birds in black “tailcoats” became known at the beginning of the sixteenth century thanks to navigators from Portugal. Interesting facts about penguins immediately aroused sympathy for them among Europeans.
The name "penguin" comes from the English word penguin. According to one of the existing versions, translated from the Welsh pengwyn means - a white head. Which is very suitable for the description of these most interesting creatures of nature. Antarctic penguins are the only birds on the planet that cannot fly, but they are excellent swimmers and move on land.
Types of penguins in Antarctica
This family includes about twenty species. People know many interesting facts about penguins. Representatives of each species have their own curious features that distinguish them from each other.
Magellanic and magnificent penguins belong to one of the smallest endangered species.
Adélie is the most common species of the entire family. received by the name of the area where they were first seen - Adele Land.
Galapagos - northern representatives of the genus. They live very close to the equator in the Galapagos archipelago at high temperatures not typical of penguins. These handsome men, unfortunately, may soon disappear from the face of the Earth, they are threatened with extinction.
Papuan - this species is the third largest after emperor and king penguins.
Stone - these members of the family are aggressive and noisy, they are distinguished by the most vicious disposition.
Imperial - the most famous species in the whole world. In addition to their large size, they stand out among their brethren by their extraordinary tolerance of severe frosts. Cold these birds do not care. They are found even on the mainland of Antarctica.
It is very sad to state the fact that in our time most species are under the threat of extinction.
Natural habitat of penguins
Penguins in nature 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 waters mainly the Galapagos Islands are the warmest habitat for flightless birds. The largest penguin settlements 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 is from 30 cm to 1 meter, although some individuals are 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 most large species, the emperor penguin takes the lead in this list. The smallest penguins live in New Zealand and Australia, this species is called "small penguins". Their weight is only about one kilogram.
The body of the birds is streamlined, thanks to which they can swim freely and dexterously under water. They have developed muscles, muscle mass is about 30% of the total body weight. The bones are dense without cavities, this distinguishes penguins from flying birds, in which the bones are tubular and light.
Three layers of numerous waterproof "hairs" - this is 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 "clothing" birds cannot swim, therefore they are forced to remain hungry until such time as they "change clothes" in new feathers. It is worth noting that penguins do not freeze due to a three-centimeter layer of fat.
What do penguins eat?
Being under water, pretty divers see very well, much better than on land. When asked what penguins eat, the answer is simple - fish. Schooling species of these marine inhabitants are the basis of the diet. Sardine, horse mackerel, anchovy are the favorite food of birds. Such a diet is diluted with squid and krill.
During the day, the penguin dives under water from 300 to 900 times to get its own food. During incubation and molting, when there is no opportunity to go fishing, birds can lose half of the total mass.
Lifestyle in the wild
A group of penguins communicate with each other with the help of exclamations, and each species has its own sounds. Spectacled penguins reproduce calls that resemble those of donkeys.
As mentioned earlier, these cute creatures cannot fly, although they have wings, but they swim and dive superbly, and in extremely cold conditions. Under water, 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.
Habitual birds can be under water without a break for 1-1.5 minutes, while plunging to a depth of 15-20 meters. But then again, among all types of divers-record holders. 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 which they immediately find themselves on land. Being 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 stomachs and slide down, as if on a sled.
reproduction
During the breeding season, penguins gather in large colonies to raise their chicks. mating season different species take place at different times. To incubate eggs, birds build nests from what is “at hand”. It can be stones, grass, leaves. The exception is emperor and king penguins, they place their eggs in a special fold on their stomach. There they are until the appearance of the chicks.
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 firstborn, and the second baby, as a result of such an unfair relationship between father and mother, may die of hunger, which happens in most cases.
natural enemies
The life of penguins is constantly in danger. In nature, these cute creatures have plenty of enemies, not counting the destructive human activities, which most of all affect 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 threatened with death from hunger.
Marine predators are considered natural enemies of adult penguins. These include sharks, killer whales, seals, leopards, and about 6-10% of birds die as a result of a collision with these animals.
To the above, one can add the fact that feral dogs that were abandoned by people are also very dangerous for settlements of clumsy creatures that are not able to escape from enemies on land. In the twentieth century, entire colonies of penguins were destroyed by wild dogs on the Galapagos Islands.
In the colonies of these flightless birds different types a lot of interesting things happen. Here are some interesting facts about penguins:
Real "kindergartens" are being created in penguin colonies. Chicks at the age of 4-6 weeks gather in one place, and several adult "caregivers" leave to watch the babies. Parents, therefore, can devote all their free time to searching for food for themselves and their chicks.
. Watching the penguins, you can see that when they come to 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 follows him. This behavior is called the "penguin effect". By the way, the same situations are often created among people too.
To swim faster, penguins move by jumping out of the water like dolphins.
. Birds can drink salty sea water, as 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, while pushing off with their paws and wings.