Penguins (lat. spheniscclassae) - flightless family sea ​​birds, the only one in the penguin order. Only eighteen species are included in the penguin order. All members of this family swim and dive well. Penguins are of ancient origin. Their habitat is limited to the Southern Hemisphere. Most penguin species live between 45° and 60° south latitude. Antarctica and nearby islands are the place where the largest number of these birds live.
The color of all individuals is almost uniform: the back is dark, the chest and belly are white. The crests or colored feathers of some penguins complement their main outfit. The average body length of a penguin ranges between 60 and 70 centimeters, and its weight is between 5 and 6 kilograms. True, there are more large species.
They spend a good half or even three-fourths of their lives in water (which is facilitated by both the structure and the shape of their body). These amazing birds feed on squid, fish, and small marine invertebrates. This food makes it possible to accumulate fat reserves that penguins spend during the period of incubation or molting (at this time they do not eat).

The word "penguin" was coined much earlier than the birds themselves were discovered. Europeans used this "name" to call the great auk that lived on the shores of the North Atlantic. After the discovery of the true penguins, there was confusion. And even now the word in English"penguin" refers to both penguins and those wingless auks.

When they first saw penguins, Europeans mistook them for geese. They were sailors from Vasco da Gama's crew. Having met an unusual bird, they thought that it was a special kind of geese.

Penguins are the symbol of Antarctica. This is true, but only five species of penguins have adapted to living in such harsh conditions for life. It should be remembered that the aborigines - the indigenous inhabitants of Antarctica - are only emperor penguins who spend their entire lives in these parts. Other penguins leave Antarctica with the onset of autumn.

Penguins have a very special body structure, different from other birds. The shape of their body is streamlined (which contributes to easy movement through the water). The penguin's sternum has a keel, which serves as a support for powerful muscles. This is necessary for penguins to dive. All other flightless birds have no keel. Penguins have dense bones (unlike other birds, which have tubular bones that make it easier for them to fly).

Penguins live in colonies. These settlements are huge, the number of birds in them can reach several million. The place for the nest is chosen in accordance with possible dangers: nests are made in shelters if there is a possibility of attack by ground predators. Penguins nest openly on the islands. According to scientists, penguins are the most social of all birds. However, there is bound to be an exception to every rule. So it is in this case. For example, magnificent penguins prefer to live in pairs, but they enter colonies very, very rarely.

The emperor penguin is the largest. Absolutely right. His height is more than one meter, and his weight reaches 45 kg (mainly due to fat reserves).

The smallest penguin weighs only one kilogram. It's about a little penguin. Basically, the name itself speaks for itself. Their body weight can be from one to two and a half kilograms. Body length - 30-40 centimeters. They inhabit mainly the southern coast of Australia, as well as on the northern and southern islands of New Zealand.

The emperor penguin chick hatches in winter. This is surprising, but, living in harsh conditions, emperor penguins breed in winter, when other birds move from these places to warmer ones. The female lays only one egg, which the male hides from the cold in the abdominal fold. The male stays in the colony, while the female goes to sea to feed. When a chick is born in the middle of winter, the returning female feeds it with semi-digested food stored in the stomach. The male, which by this time has lost more than half of its weight, passes the chick to its mother and sets off to sea, where it spends a month and a half. It should be noted that the chick hatches from the egg naked and then acquires feathers within a few weeks.

Penguins spend most of their lives in the water. About 75% of the time penguins devote to the aquatic environment. They have adapted to it so much that their wings resemble flippers. marine mammals, and almost all feathers are comparable to scales.

Penguins are good swimmers. And not just good, but great! They can reach speeds of up to 40 kilometers per hour.

Most fast way movement is "swimming like a dolphin". The essence of this "method" is as follows: penguins either dive or jump out of the water, that is, their behavior resembles that of a dolphin. Why exactly they do this is not yet clear: either for speed, or to reduce resistance, or maybe in order to deceive their natural enemies.

Penguins dive well. Specific gravity their bodies, due to heavy bones and the absence of subcutaneous air sacs, allow penguins to dive into water to a depth of more than two hundred meters. And for example, emperor penguins are able to dive to a depth of one and a half kilometers! True, to find out what they are doing there has not yet been possible.

On land, penguins hold their bodies upright. They have short and thick legs, which are also carried back (i.e., located behind the center of gravity). When moving, penguins also rely on their tail. They can only walk in an upright position and in small steps. If there is a need for faster movement, then they glide on their belly, pushing off the snow cover with their legs and wings.

Penguins have no sense of smell. Absent or very weak, as, indeed, in all birds.

The eyes of penguins are perfectly adapted to the conditions of life in the aquatic environment. They have flat corneas, so penguins are somewhat nearsighted when out of the water. The contractility and extensibility of the pupil of penguins helps them quickly adapt to changing conditions of water illumination at a depth of up to one hundred meters.

Penguins are sensitive to water pollution. This is not surprising, especially when it comes to oil pollution. She (oil) clogs the feathers of these birds and enters their stomach. At the same time, the water-repellent properties of plumage are lost, and completely exhausted penguins can be thrown ashore.

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 with different speed, pushing out the old feather, so often the bird during the molting period has an untidy, ragged appearance.

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, while the little 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. they peck penguin eggs with pleasure, 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.

What do penguins eat?

Penguins eat fish, crustaceans, plankton and small cephalopods. The bird gladly eats krill, anchovies, Antarctic silverfish, small octopuses and squids. 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 of South America - from the Falkland Islands to the territory of Peru, near the equator they live on 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, distinguishing feature- ring white color around 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, the average weight is 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. A distinctive feature of the bird is a narrow strip of black color, 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.

Perhaps the most amazing birds on our planet are penguins. Interesting Facts about these cute creatures we will present to you in this article. This is the only bird that swims beautifully, but cannot fly. In addition, the penguin can walk upright. This is a flightless bird belonging to the penguin order.

Habitat

Huge territories, mainly in the cold regions of the Southern Hemisphere, are the places where penguins live. The largest populations are recorded in Antarctica. In addition, they feel quite comfortable in South Africa and southern Australia. Almost the entire coastline of South America is the territory where penguins live.

Name

The origin of the name of these birds has three versions. The first explains it by a combination of the words pen - "head" and gwyn - "white". It once referred to the wingless auk (now extinct). Since these birds are similar in appearance, the name was transferred to the penguin.

According to the second version, the penguin got its name from the English word pinwing, which translates as “hairpin wing”. According to the third version, the name of the bird comes from the Latin pinguis, which means "fat".

Types of penguins

Do you know how many species of penguins live on our planet? By modern classification, these birds are combined into six genera and nineteen species. We will introduce you to some of them in this article.

emperor penguin

The largest and heaviest bird: the weight of the male can reach 40 kg, and the body length is about 130 cm. The plumage is black on the back, the abdomen is white, and characteristic bright yellow or orange spots can be seen on the neck. Emperor penguins are inhabitants of the Antarctic.

king penguin

Outwardly, it is very similar to the imperial one, but somewhat inferior to it in size: its body length is about 100 cm, and its weight does not exceed 18 kg. In addition, this species has a different color - the back is covered with dark gray, sometimes almost black feathers, the abdomen is white, and bright orange spots are located on the sides of the head and on the breast. These birds live in the coastal waters of the Lusitania Bay, on Tierra del Fuego, the South and Sandwich Islands, Kerguelen and Crozet, Macquarie and South Georgia, Prince Edward and Heard.

Adelie Penguin

Medium sized bird. Its length does not exceed 75 cm, and its weight is 6 kg. The back of Adele is black, the belly is white. A feature of this species is a white ring around the eyes. These birds live in Antarctica, as well as on the islands adjacent to it: Orkney and South Shetland.

Northern crested penguin

A species that is currently under threat of extinction. This is a small bird about 55 cm long and weighs 3 kg. The back and wings are gray-black. The belly is white. Yellow eyebrows merge into tufts of bright yellow feathers located to the side of the eyes. On the head of the penguin is a black crest, which gave the name to the species.

The main part of the population inhabits the islands of Impregnable and Gough, Tristan da Cunha, which are located in the Atlantic Ocean.

Golden-haired penguin

The body length of this penguin varies within 76 cm, weight - just over 5 kg. Color - typical for all penguins, but with one feature: above the eyes there are unusual bunches of golden feathers. Golden-haired penguins inhabited the southern shores of the Indian Ocean, the Atlantic, and are slightly less common in the north of Antarctica, as well as on the islands of the Subantarctic.

External features

On land this unusual bird, which cannot fly, looks somewhat awkward due to the structural features of the limbs and body. Penguins have a streamlined body shape with well-developed pectoral keel muscles - often it makes up a quarter of the total mass of the bird.

The body of the penguin is well-fed, slightly laterally compressed, covered with feathers. The head is not too large, located on a flexible and mobile, but short neck. The beak of these birds is strong and sharp.

Interesting facts about penguins are related to their structure. In the course of evolution and lifestyle, the wings of the penguin have changed and turned into flippers: underwater, they rotate in the shoulder joint like a screw. The legs are thick and short, with four toes, which are connected by swimming membranes.

Unlike most birds, the legs of the penguin are noticeably shifted back, which forces the bird to keep its body strictly vertical when on land. A short tail, which consists of twenty hard feathers, helps the penguin to maintain balance: the bird leans on it if necessary.

Another interesting fact about penguins is that their skeleton is not made up of hollow tubular bones, which is usually characteristic of birds. Their bones are more similar in structure to the bones of marine mammals. For thermal insulation, penguins have a solid supply of fat, its layer reaches three centimeters.

The plumage of penguins is thick and dense: short, small feathers cover the bird's body like tiles, protecting it from getting wet in cold water.

Lifestyle

Penguins are under water in search of food for quite a long time, plunging to three meters deep and covering distances of about thirty kilometers. It's amazing how fast penguins swim - it can reach 10 km per hour. Representatives of some species can dive to a depth of 130 meters. When penguins do not enter the mating season and do not nurse offspring, they move away from the coast for quite long distances (up to 1000 km).

To speed up movement on land, the penguin lies on its belly and quickly slides over snow or ice, pushing off with its limbs. This method of movement allows birds to reach speeds of up to 6 km / h. Under natural conditions, the penguin lives for about twenty-five years. In captivity, with proper care, this figure increases to thirty.

What do penguins eat?

For one hunt, the penguin makes from 190 to 900 dives. The exact number depends on climatic conditions, the type of penguin, and the need for food. It is interesting that the bird's mouth apparatus is arranged according to the principle of a pump: it sucks medium-sized prey through its beak. During feeding, on average, birds swim about thirty kilometers and spend almost eighty minutes a day at a depth of more than three meters.

The basis of the diet of penguins is fish. But what do penguins eat (other than fish)? The bird gladly eats squids, small octopuses and small mollusks. The young feed on semi-digested food that their parents regurgitate from their stomachs.

How do penguins sleep?

The answer to this question is of interest to many of our readers. Penguins sleep standing up, keeping their body temperature during sleep. Interesting facts about penguins are associated with this state of birds. The time they spend sleeping is directly dependent on the air temperature - the lower the temperature, the shorter the sleep. Birds sleep longer during molting: during this period they eat little, and additional sleep allows them to reduce energy consumption. In addition, penguins sleep while incubating eggs.

It turns out that not all penguins are cute and harmless creatures. For example, stone penguins are endowed with a rather aggressive disposition. They can attack any object they don't like.

Penguins do not need fresh water - they drink sea water because they have special glands that filter out salt.

During the mating season, expressing his tender feelings, the male spectacled penguin strokes his chosen one on the head with his wing.

The legs of penguins do not freeze, because they have a minimum number of nerve endings.

Superorder penguins (Impennes) (N. A. Gladkov)

Squad penguins (Sphemsciformes)

Penguins are peculiar birds. They cannot fly or run. Their main mode of transportation is swimming and diving. On land, they walk awkwardly, waddling from one foot to the other and holding their baggy bodies upright. In case of need, penguins fall on their belly on the ice and quickly slide on it, while acting with all four limbs. The forelimbs of penguins are perfectly adapted to the aquatic lifestyle. They are modified into elastic flippers, which, thanks to a special structure of the skeleton, are in a semi-stretched state and, while swimming under water, rotate in the shoulder joint almost in a helical manner.

Unlike other flightless birds (ostriches), penguins have a sternum keel, and, moreover, it is well developed. The pectoral muscles that control the movement of the wings-fins are well developed in penguins and the keel of the sternum creates the necessary area for their attachment. In some species of penguins, the pectoral muscles are 1/4: the weight of the bird, that is, its relative weight is much greater than that of many flying birds. Interestingly, the muscle that raises the wing-fin (subclavian muscle) is even more developed in penguins than the muscle that lowers the wing, while in most other birds the subclavian muscle weighs about 10 times less than this muscle.

Among other anatomical features of penguins, it should be noted that their tarsus has obvious traces of fusion from several (at least three) bones. The bones that form the skeleton of the forelimbs (flippers) are flattened like a plank.

Penguins are large birds. They weigh about 40-45 kg. The largest penguin, the emperor, can, standing on land, reach out with its beak to the shoulder of a person of average height.

The constitution of the penguins is dense, the body is somewhat elongated and slightly compressed in the dorsal-abdominal direction. The legs are short, thick, have four toes (although the first toe is very small), connected by swimming membranes. The legs are carried far back, which determines the vertical position of the body when the bird comes to land. The tail of the penguins is short, consists of 16-20 feathers, on which the bird rests in a standing position; the neck is thick and flexible, the beak is usually strong and sharp. The plumage is very thick. Small feathers, resembling scales, grow throughout the body, so penguins do not have apteria.

Penguins are distributed in the southern hemisphere, mainly in its cold parts, from the coast of Antarctica to the southern extremities of Australia, Africa and South America. Where cold currents invade tropical latitudes, for example, off the western coast of South America and the western coast of Africa, penguins are found even in the tropics, and one species inhabits the Galapagos Islands.

All penguins are monogamous birds, and pairs form, apparently, for life. Penguins usually keep in flocks and nest in large colonies - thousands, tens, and sometimes hundreds of thousands of pairs. Among the breeding birds in the colony is usually quite a large number of young, one- and two-year-old birds that do not participate in breeding. Nesting colonies are located on low rocky shores, in some species (emperor penguin) on ice.

Some species make a simple nest on the surface of the earth, using pebbles for this, sometimes (more northern species) and bones of rabbits. Others use depressions in rocks or burrows for nesting, and, finally, there are species that do not make nests at all.

In clutch, most species have 2 eggs, some have only one and very rarely have 3 eggs. Either both parents incubate, or only the male. While incubating, many penguins long time are starving.

Penguin chicks are covered in thick down and are initially blind. Their eyes open at the end of the second week of life. Young penguins go to the water only after they first molt. The mortality of chicks is very high, in some, though rare, cases it reaches 70%.

When the chicks grow up a little, a peculiar phenomenon is observed - the formation of the so-called "baby nursery". Chicks huddle together, twenty or more birds, and, according to some researchers, are at this time under the supervision of several "caregivers", while their parents are busy looking for prey at sea. Soviet polar explorers (E.V. Korotkevich), observing the breeding of emperor penguins, came to the conclusion that the babies huddled together are more like a group of homeless children abandoned by their parents and forced to flee the cold, warming each other, as adult penguins standing nearby do not pay any attention to the chicks.

Adult penguins feed on small fish, small cephalopods and planktonic crustaceans, mainly euphausiids. The same food is brought to the chicks.

Since nesting takes a lot of time for penguins, some species do not nest annually, but about twice every three years. During non-breeding time, herds of penguins roam the sea, moving away from nesting places by 800-1000 km. Most species return after migrating to old nesting sites.

Penguins molt once a year. Their molting occurs in a peculiar way: new feathers grow under the old ones, pushing them out, and the old plumage comes off the body in tatters. During molting, penguins are on land in a sheltered place and do not eat anything.

Penguins have few enemies. In the sea, sea leopards can be dangerous for them, on land - great skuas, however, skuas do not attack adult birds. Neglected eggs are often stolen by white plovers.

Penguins are a well-defined group of birds of ancient origin (obviously from the Lower Miocene). Currently, the detachment includes 15 species, forming one family - penguin(Spheniscidae). 36 species are known in the fossil state. The most ancient remains of penguins are known from the islands of New Zealand.

The largest of the penguins - emperor penguin(Aptenodytes forsteri). When he stands slouching on land, he is about 90 cm tall. cm, but when he is alert and moving - 110-120 cm. Emperor penguin weight - 20-45 kg.

The dorsal side of this bird is dark, grayish-blue, on the head this color turns into black. Around the ears there are rounded yellowish-orange spots, passing to the underside of the neck and gradually fading away on the chest. The chicks are covered with long white or grayish-white down; the top of the head and the vertical stripe separating the cheeks from the occiput are brownish-black.

Emperor penguins nest along the coast of Antarctica on ice, south to 78 ° south latitude. Unlike all other penguins, the emperor penguins nest during the most severe time of the year - the Antarctic winter.

At the end of the Antarctic summer, that is, at the beginning of March, the first emperor penguins appear on the ice. At first, they behave in a highly passive way: they stand motionless, hunched over and pulling their heads into their shoulders. As the fast ice becomes thicker and covers more and more area, the number of penguins increases and reaches 5 or even 10 thousand. In April, pairs begin to form. The male moves from place to place and makes loud peculiar sounds. After waiting for some time, he moves again and again screams. This can go on for several hours, and sometimes for several days. Finally, some female responds to the voice of the male, and a pair is formed. From this time on, the male and female stay together, but it takes quite a long time, about 25 days, before an egg is laid, the only one during the breeding season. Emperor penguin eggs are large: 12 cm lengths, 8-9 cm width and about 500 G weight. Their color is white.

The male and female greet the appearance of the egg with loud, as observers say, "jubilant" cries. For some time, the female holds the egg on its paws, covering it with a special fold of skin on the underside of the belly. After a few hours, it is transferred to the male, who also holds it on its paws. After that, the females, one after another, sometimes alone, more often in groups of 3-4 birds, go to sea. This continues throughout May.

Some males turn out to be "selfish", they do not accept eggs from the female, they run away from her to the sea. Sometimes the male goes to the sea, holding an egg on his paws. In the end, such an egg rolls out and dies. However, most males jealously protect the egg, move very little, and often gather in dense heaps. And all this time they are starving, at times they "eat" only snow.

Males come to nesting sites well-fed, with a thick fat layer, which is especially developed on the belly. But during "incubation" all this fat reserve (about 5-6 kg) is consumed. Birds lose up to 40% of their weight, become very thin, their plumage becomes dirty, completely losing its original luster and silkiness.

About two months pass in this way, and when the time of hatching of the chicks approaches, at the end of July, the females, well-fed, fat, begin to come from the sea. The return of the females lasts the whole month, and each of them finds her male by voice. Having starved for four months, the male hurriedly gives his mate an egg and hurries himself to the sea, the open surface of which is now very far from nesting sites.

It happens that some females are late, and the chick hatches without them. Such chicks often die before the arrival of the mother from the sea.

The hatching process of a chick takes two days, and at first a weak chick, which does not yet have a downy cover, continues to sit on the paws of the female, covered by her abdominal "bag".

In the entire colony, hatching lasts about a month.

In September, well-fed males return. By resorting to voice signals, they find their females and begin to feed the chicks.

The life of the nesting colony is not smooth. The polar night, the terrible cold, the hurricane-force winds sometimes force the birds to huddle in dense heaps. Often the eggs are lost. Sometimes immature, younger males steal eggs from neighbors, and later, when the chicks begin to move away from their parents, fights arise because of them. Single males each pull the chick towards themselves, the chick, like a soccer ball, rolls from one adult penguin to another, gets bruised and injured, and eventually dies. Chicks also die from skuas.

At the end of November, in summer, adult birds molt. Penguins at this time are on land, if possible, in a place protected from the wind. Each individual molts for 20 days, and the birds are starving during this time.

close to imperial king penguin(A. patagonica) lives to the north, in warmer places. Its breeding colonies are located on the islands of South Georgia, Kerguelen, Marion, Crozet and Macquarie. This penguin is similar to the emperor penguin, but smaller than it, its body length is 91-96 cm. The color of the plumage is somewhat brighter than that of the emperor penguin. The black color of the head has a greenish tint, bright yellow stripes on the sides of the neck on the upper chest pass into a greenish-yellow shirt-front, gradually merging with a glossy snow-white belly.

King penguin colonies are located on hard rocky ground. Reproduction occurs in summer: eggs are laid mainly in December - January. Each female lays only 1 large egg (Table 1), which, like the emperor penguin, rests on its paws and is covered by an abdominal fold of skin. Both parents incubate alternately. The duration of incubation is 54 days. The chicks grow rapidly, and by the beginning of autumn the earliest chicks (hatched from eggs laid in November) reach the size of adult birds. Chicks hatched from eggs laid in January or February have time to acquire sizes of only 3/4 of adults. Throughout the winter, they no longer grow, on the contrary, they grow thin and lose weight. The weaker ones die at the beginning of winter, and the chicks that have entered winter period with sufficient fat reserves, by the end of winter they weigh half as much. In November - December, when the food is again in abundance, the chicks change their downy outfit to the first feather and leave their parents, going to sea. At about the same time, adult birds also molt, in order to start laying eggs again in January or February.

Penguins whose chicks have died start laying eggs again at an earlier date, in November - December; The birds that have happily raised their chicks begin to breed again in January-February. Thus, there are two "peaks" of egg laying. Parents who are most fortunate in one year are late nesters the next year, and their belated chicks cannot survive the harsh, foodless winter. And vice versa, penguins that have lost their chicks and, accordingly, started a new nest early, raise chicks almost without loss.

Widespread than all other penguins, and perhaps the most numerous in Antarctica Adélie penguin(Pygoscelis adeliae). It's pretty large bird, up to 80 cm high. Her head, neck, back and flippers (on the dorsal side) are black with a characteristic bluish tint, her chest and belly are snow-white; there is a thin white ring around the eye.

The Adélie penguin nests along the coasts of the Antarctic continent and on the islands close to the mainland: South Shetland, South Orkney and South Sandwich. Outside of nesting time, it roams widely, moving away from its native places by 600-700 km.

Adélie penguin nesting colonies are located on hard, snow-free ground, and, probably in connection with this, the colonies are in very windy places, where the wind, blowing snow, exposes the soil. In individual colonies there are several tens of thousands of birds, and on Ross Island a colony is known containing at least half a million individuals.

Birds appear on nesting sites at the end of the polar night, usually in September - October, they go slowly, in a long line along the same path. Arriving at the old nesting site, they immediately begin to dig a nesting hole in last year's guano and lay out its circumference with small pebbles. At the same time, there is a lot of noise and even fights, as birds often steal construction material each other.

The colony consists of birds of different ages. The basis of it is not the first time nesting birds, at the age of 4-5 years. Then there is a significant number of birds starting nesting for the first time. They usually appear later than old birds, occupy places along the periphery of the colony or wedged into it in places that for some reason remained free. These "newcomers" have an increased death of eggs and mortality of chicks. Further, non-breeding penguins (age 2-3 years) immediately keep, having, however, an adult outfit. Sometimes they occupy a certain place in the colony and even make nests, but in most of them the gonads remain underdeveloped. Finally, there are non-breeding yearlings in juvenile plumage (distinguished by white throats).

The clutch usually contains 2 eggs, which are laid at intervals of 2-4 days. The duration of their incubation is 33-38 days.

The penguins that arrived at the nesting place do not eat anything for two and a half to three and a half weeks, but as soon as the eggs are laid, the females return to the sea and feed there. The males, busy with incubation, continue to starve for another two to two and a half weeks. Then the returned females replace the males, and after some time the males, who have fattened up at sea, replace the females for a short time. If the clutch is killed for some reason, the parents go to the sea, but after a while they still return, take their old place and starve, without starting, however, a new laying of eggs.

The first time after the hatching of the chicks, the parents take turns going to the sea for food. At about four weeks of age, the chicks gather in large close groups - "crèches". According to some polar explorers (V. A. Arseniev), these groups are left with a few special "educators", while the rest of the birds are busy looking for food - crustaceans, in a smaller amount of fish and small cephalopods. The "tutors" seem to be vigilantly watching the group of chicks entrusted to them, and in which case they immediately use their beak and wings. Other researchers (William Sladen) argue that these groups are homeless. When the chicks reach the age of eight weeks, the "crèche" disintegrates. Shortly thereafter, the chicks change from their dark, almost black down plumage to the first feather plumage and finally float down to the water. In February - March, adult birds also molt. Usually their molting occurs at nesting sites.

Soviet polar explorer V. I. Dubrovnik describes an interesting case when penguins made a mistake in choosing a nesting site. He observed in the area of ​​Lazarevskaya station a small colony of Adélie penguins sitting on their eggs right on the ice of the iceberg. Under the birds, small pits filled with water with a diameter of 20-25 cm and depth up to 20 cm. Thus, each penguin sat in an ice bath. V. I. Dubrovnik encountered pits without birds. The water in them turned into ice again, in which the eggs were frozen into it.

Adélie penguins are described by all observers as agile, fussy and unbalanced birds. They are curious and not shy.

There are interesting data on reproduction magnificent penguin(Megadyptes antipodes). These birds do not form colonies and usually nest in separate pairs. One-year-olds and many two-year-olds stay close to nesting sites. However, approximately 48% of two-year-old females still form pairs and lay eggs. The remaining females start nesting at the age of 3 years, some even at the age of 4 years. Males start breeding a year later than females. Young penguins (at the age of 3 years) lay 1 egg each, older ones almost always lay 2 eggs. In most two-year-old females that have begun breeding, the eggs remain unfertilized.

The duration of incubation in a magnificent penguin is 4 weeks. The young molt and put on the adult outfit at 14-18 months of age without being sexually mature. Sexual maturity of birds occurs, apparently, at the 4-5th year of life.

The magnificent penguin nests along the "south coast of the islands of New Zealand and on the islands of Stewart, Auckland and Campbell in September - November. Its appearance is as follows. The back is black with a grayish tinge, the head is darker. Above the eye there are narrow areas covered with light yellow feathers, continuing to the back of the head and closing there.The throat is dark brown.The neck and ventral part of the body are white.The body length of this penguin reaches 83 cm.

golden-haired penguins(Eudyptes chrysolophus), 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 these birds is 65-76 cm.

They are distributed throughout the southern Atlantic and Indian Oceans. They 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, only on the coasts and in the valleys of Macquarie Island there are at least 2 million adult birds.

They nest on the ground, making 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 smelled several kilometers from the colony.

The smallest of the penguins - little penguin(Eudyptula minor). He has a body length of only 40 cm. It lives off the southern coast of Australia, along the coasts of Tasmania, New Zealand and Chatham Island. It is lighter than other penguins, the upper side of its body is dark gray, the abdomen is pure white. Usually lays 1-2, sometimes 3 eggs.

The northernmost view Galapagos penguin(Spheniscus mendiculus). It is the only penguin that breeds in the tropics. Eggs, number 2, the female lays in the crevices of rocks in the colder season (May - June). The Galapagos penguin is somewhat larger than the little penguin. The upper side of the body is dark, the lower side is white, the chin and upper side of the throat are white, separated from the rest of the white color of the lower body by a brownish stripe.

Finally, off the southern and southwestern coasts of Africa, one can meet spectacled penguin(S. demersus). Having a black upper side of the body and a white lower side, it is well distinguished by the presence of a narrow black horseshoe-shaped strip on the chest, which descends along the sides of the body to the paws. In addition, a white stripe goes around the back of the sides of the head and cheeks and then goes forward to the eyes and further towards the beak, but does not reach it. Body length of spectacled penguins 61-86 cm. They breed throughout the year, mainly in May - June.

However, these amazing birds are not only the indigenous inhabitants of Antarctica, since penguins also live, for example, in ... Africa (yes, such a paradox), but only in its southernmost part, on the territory of South Africa (South Africa). These flightless birds with interesting habits and unusual appearance have long been the object of research by many zoologists, the heroes of children's cartoons (such as Madagascar). The word “penguin” itself, according to one version, is of Welsh origin and comes from the words “pen” - head and “gwyn” - white, as the wingless auk, which is now extinct today, was originally called, which was very similar to penguins, and this name subsequently passed to them. According to another version, the name "penguin" comes from the English "pinwing", which means wing pin. And finally, according to the third version, the name of the penguins is of Latin origin, since in Latin the word "pinguis" means "fat".

Penguin: description, structure, characteristics. What does a penguin look like?

Without exception, all penguins are first-class swimmers, and they also know how to dive well. But they, unfortunately, do not know how to fly from the word at all. Yes, and on the ground they move very clumsily due to the peculiarities of the structure of their body.

The body of the penguin has a streamlined shape and developed muscles of the pectoral keel, which sometimes makes up a quarter of the total mass of this bird. Also, the body of penguins is usually quite well-fed (here we recall Latin name this bird) and is covered with feathers on the sides.

The penguin's head is not very large, however, it is located on a mobile, flexible and short neck and has a powerful and sharp beak.

Why does a penguin need wings if it can't fly? Such a logical question may arise, and we will answer it, the fact is that the wings of the penguin in the process of evolution were transformed into flippers, which rotate in the shoulder joint according to the screw principle during swimming, all this turns the penguin into an excellent swimmer.

The legs of the penguin are short and thick at the same time, each leg has 4 toes connected by swimming membranes. The actual structure of the legs leads to the fact that the penguins move so funny and awkwardly, they are designed in such a way that they have to keep their body always strictly vertical to the surface of the earth.

Penguins also have a short tail, consisting of 16-20 feathers, it helps them maintain balance and, if necessary, they can even lean on it like a stand.

The skeleton of a penguin, unlike other birds, does not consist of hollow tubular bones; the bones of a penguin are more like the bones of mammals. The severe Antarctic cold helps penguins to endure a warming supply of fat, which has a layer of 2-3 centimeters.

The plumage of penguins is thick and dense, the body of the bird is covered with feathers like tiles, they also protect them from getting wet in cold water. The color of the feathers and the penguins themselves is the same for all - a dark back and a white belly.

About once a year, penguins molt, old feathers fall out, and new ones grow in their place. During this period, the penguins are exclusively on land, where they try to hide as much as possible from gusts of wind and generally cold weather.

The size of penguins varies depending on their species, so the largest, the emperor penguin, has a length of 117-130 cm and up to 40 kg of weight. The little penguin reaches only 40 cm in length and weighs an average of about 1 kg.

Where do penguins live

Under natural conditions, penguins live in the southern hemisphere of our planet, most of all preferring cold Antarctica. But in addition to this icy continent, they also live in the south of South America, the south of Australia and New Zealand, as well as in South Africa. True, it is worth noting that everyone, including African penguins, settle exclusively in places where cold ocean currents are present.

How long do penguins live

Under natural conditions, the life expectancy of a penguin is 15-25 years. In zoos, under ideal conditions, these birds can live up to 30 years.

What do penguins eat

Penguins are omnivorous birds, so their diet includes various marine fish, crayfish, plankton, medium-sized mollusks. A small or squid can also become food for a penguin. Penguins get their prey in the water, because it is not for nothing that they are excellent swimmers. During the hunt, the penguin can make up to 900 dives, the speed of the penguin in the water can reach up to 10 km per hour. The beak of a penguin during sea hunting works on the principle of a pump, it sucks in all medium-sized prey along with water.

Penguin Enemies

In turn, penguins can become the prey of other larger marine predators: sharks, killer whales, fur seals, leopard seals and sea lions. Seagulls are also natural enemies of penguins, as they often peck at their eggs. Little penguin chicks are desirable prey for skuas.

penguin lifestyle

The most interesting feature regarding the lifestyle of these birds is the fact that matriarchy dominates in penguin society. It is the female penguins who choose the males they like, care for them, achieve their recognition, then the males, in turn, incubate the eggs, while the females get food. AT general role relations between the sexes in penguins are diametrically opposed to many other representatives of the animal world.

Penguins are collective creatures and live not just in families or flocks, but form entire bird colonies that can reach up to a million individuals. And on Zavadovsky Island, located in the South Atlantic, the world's largest colony of the Antarctic penguin is known, according to approximate estimates, about 10 million of these birds live there.

Penguins love to be in the company of their own kind, but during the mating season for procreation, the male and the female leave the society of their relatives for a while, and return back with a newborn baby, but we will write about this in more detail below.

Types of penguins, photos and names

According to the modern classification, there are 6 genera and 19 species of penguins in the world, we will describe the most interesting of them.

This representative of the penguin kingdom is the most majestic (the name is not in vain) and the largest: the weight of the emperor penguin reaches 40 kg with a height of up to 115 cm. Emperor penguins live exclusively on the coast of Antarctica. (By the way, we have an interesting article about them on our website - “- eternal exiles in the ice”, follow the link).

It is very similar to its imperial relative, but somewhat inferior to it in size: its height, on average, is 90-100 cm, with a weight of 10-18 kg. It also differs in the color of the feathers, their back is dark gray, sometimes almost black, the abdomen, as befits penguins, is white, and bright orange spots are located on the sides of the head. King penguins live on many islands in the South Atlantic.

These penguins are medium in size, Adélie is 65-75 cm long and weighs 6 kg. Also a distinctive feature of this species is the presence of white rings around the eyes. Adélie penguins live in Antarctica and some adjacent islands (Orkney, South of Scotland).

A distinctive feature of the northern crested penguin is the presence of tufts of black and yellow feathers on its head, giving the bird a more than unusual look. The size of this penguin is 55 cm in length and up to 3 kg in weight. It lives on a number of islands in the South Atlantic, in our time, unfortunately, is under the threat of extinction.

By appearance, is almost identical to other penguins, but has one interesting feature - a bunch of golden feathers flaunts above its head (hence its name). The body length and weight are slightly larger than those of the crested penguin: length - 60-70 cm, weight - 5-6 kg. It also lives in the southern part of the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean.

This penguin occupies an honorable second place after the emperor, in size, its length reaches 90 cm, weight - up to 9 kg. Also characteristic feature This type of penguin is their beak, which is colored orange-red.

The Magellanic penguin, as the name suggests, lives in the Strait of Magellan, South America. The body length of the Magellanic penguin is 70-80 cm, with a weight of 5-6 kg. The coloring of these penguins is characterized by the presence of one or two black stripes around the neck.

This penguin, which lives on the coast of Antarctica and adjacent islands, in addition to the signature penguin coloration, has an additional black stripe that runs along the head. Its length is 60-70 cm and weighs 4-5 kg.

Also known as the donkey penguin, black-footed penguin, or African penguin. Unlike its counterparts living in cold Antarctic conditions, this penguin lives in South Africa, on the territory of South Africa (South Africa), they are also found on the coasts of neighboring Namibia, but only in places where there is a cold ocean current. Also, these penguins differ from their relatives by a narrow black stripe in the shape of a horseshoe located on their chest.

This species of penguin is the smallest in the penguin family, its height is no more than 40 cm, and weighs up to 1 kg. These little penguins live on the coasts of Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania and adjacent islands.

penguin breeding

We touched on a little bit about how penguins breed in the section on their lifestyle, now let's talk about this in even more detail. Firstly, matriarchy dominates among penguins, and females choose their males for mating, and not vice versa. Secondly, penguins are monogamous and pair up for life.

Penguins reach sexual maturity after two years. So, with the onset of the mating season, young females choose a suitable male for themselves, and retire with him for mating. As a result of this, after a certain time, the female has 1-2 eggs (in rare cases there may be three). But incubation of eggs, taking care of them, is no longer mom, but dad penguin. The female at this time is engaged in the extraction of food, both for herself and her "husband", who is engaged in archival business.

After about 30-100 days (depending on the type of penguin), small chicks hatch from the eggs, they are blind at first, and only after a few weeks they begin to see. Despite the care and protection of parents, approximately 60% of chicks die from hunger, cold and attacks. birds of prey- skuas who love to feast on penguin chicks.

Before their first molt, little penguins are exclusively on land, only with the advent of thick waterproof plumage can they dive into the water.

As they grow older, little penguins begin to unite in small groups, which zoologists call a kind of "kindergartens" for penguins. Such an association has practical value, since in a group it is easier for young penguins to protect themselves from predatory skuas.

Do they eat penguins?

More likely no than yes. Although penguin meat tastes good (according to the stories of some travelers), it has a very specific stench for the human nose. However, some peoples living on the southern islands and European polar explorers exploring Antarctica ate penguins for their own food. The latter did this simply so as not to starve to death due to lack of provisions.

• The first European who was lucky enough to see penguins with his own eyes was the great Spanish navigator Ferdinand Magellan (the one who made the first trip around the world in history). Actually, Magellan penguins are named in his honor. This significant event took place back in 1520 near the island of Novaya Zemlya.
• Among the penguins there are even their swimmers record holders, such are the gentoo penguins, capable of reaching speeds of up to 36 km per hour in water.
• As you know, penguins are very clumsy and clumsy on land and, having fallen, they can no longer get up. For this reason, at some polar Antarctic stations even such a specific profession as a “penguin lifter” has appeared, a person whose job it is to help penguins rise.

penguins video

And in conclusion, an interesting documentary film about the difficult life of emperor penguins.