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What group of animals does the penguin belong to? Penguins are the natives of Antarctica

general characteristics

The largest of the modern representatives is the emperor penguin (height - 110-120 cm, weight up to 46 kg), the smallest are representatives of the species Eudyptula minor- small penguin (height 30-40 cm, weight 1-2.5 kg). Such significant differences are explained by Bergmann's rule, of which penguins are a frequent example. Bergmann's rule states that animals living in cold regions have large body sizes, since this contributes to a more rational ratio of the volume and surface of the animal's body and, thereby, to a decrease in heat loss.

Emperor penguins in Antarctica

body structure

From all other birds, penguins are distinguished by a very special body structure. The body shape of the penguins is streamlined, which is ideal for movement in the water. The forelimbs of penguins are nothing more than flippers. The musculature and structure of the bones allows them to work underwater with their wings almost like screws. Unlike others flightless birds, penguins have a sternum with a clearly defined keel, to which powerful muscles are attached. Swimming under water differs from flying in the air in that the same energy is expended on raising the wing as on lowering, since water resistance is greater than air resistance, therefore penguin blades have a large surface in comparison with other birds, on which muscles are attached, responsible for lifting the wing. The humerus and forearm bone are connected at the elbow straight and motionless, which increases the stability of the wing. The pectoral muscles are unusually developed and sometimes account for up to 30% of body weight, which is several times greater than the muscles of the most powerful flying birds. The femurs are very short, the knee joint is immobile, and the legs are noticeably set back, which is the reason for the unusually upright gait. Large feet with a swimming membrane are relatively short - being on land, animals often rest, standing on their heels, while the rigid tail unit serves as additional support for them. The tail of penguins is greatly shortened, since the steering function that it usually has in others waterfowl, in penguins, the legs are performed first. The second clear difference between penguins and other birds is bone density. All birds have tubular bones, which makes their skeleton lighter and allows them to fly or run fast. But in penguins, they are similar to the bones of mammals (dolphins and seals) and do not contain internal cavities.

thermoregulation

Within their habitat, penguins are exposed to extreme climatic conditions and have different anatomical features allowing them to adapt to these conditions. For thermal insulation, first of all, a thick layer of fat - from 2 to 3 cm - is used, above which there are three layers of waterproof, short, tight-fitting feathers evenly distributed throughout the body. Apteria - areas of skin devoid of feathers are absent in penguins, unlike almost all other birds; the exception is some tropical species, which have apteria on the front of the head. The air in the layers of feathers also effectively protects against heat loss while in the water. Also, penguins have a well-developed "heat transfer system" in the fins and legs: the arterial blood entering them gives off heat to the colder venous blood flowing back to the body, thus heat loss is minimized. This process is called the "reverse flow principle". On the other hand, tropical penguin species have to contend with overheating. Their fins in relation to the size of the body have a large area, so the surface from which heat transfer occurs is increased. In some species, in addition to this, there is also no plumage on the front, which accelerates the process of heat transfer in the shade.

Plumage

Numerous small, undifferentiated, rather hair-like feathers that make up the plumage, in almost all species of penguins, have a grayish-blue, turning into a black tint on the back, and white on the stomach. This coloration is camouflage for many marine animals (eg dolphins). Males and females are very similar, although males are slightly larger. Most crested penguins (Eudyptes) have a very noticeable orange-yellow decoration on their heads. The plumage of cubs is often gray or brown, but in some species the sides and belly are white. At the end of incubation of eggs and rearing of chicks, molting begins in penguins - a change in plumage. During molting, penguins shed a large number of feathers at the same time and during this time they are not able to swim in the water and remain without food until new feathers grow. New feathers grow under the old ones and seem to push them out. During this period, lasting different types two to six weeks, birds use their fat stores twice as fast. Antarctic penguins (Pygoscelis papua) and Galapagos penguins (Spheniscus mendiculus) do not have a distinct molting period, in these species it can begin at any time between hatching. In birds that do not hatch chicks, molting almost always begins earlier than the rest.

Vision and hearing

The eyes of penguins are perfectly adapted to the conditions of swimming under water; the cornea of their eyes is very flat, as a result of which on land the birds are a little short-sighted. Another means of adaptation is the contractility and extensibility of the pupil, which is especially pronounced in emperor penguins diving to great depths. Due to this feature, the eyes of penguins very quickly adapt to changing light conditions in water at a depth of up to 100 m. An analysis of the pigment composition allows us to conclude that penguins see in the blue part of the spectrum better than in the red, and probably even perceive ultraviolet rays. Since light in the red part of the spectrum is scattered already in the upper layers of the water, this feature of vision is likely the result of evolutionary adaptation. The ears of penguins, like those of most birds, do not have a clear external structure. When diving, they are tightly closed with special feathers, so that water does not penetrate into the ear. Emperor penguins also have an enlarged rim of the outer ear so that it can close, thereby protecting the middle and inner ear from the pressure damage that diving to great depths can cause. Under water, penguins make almost no sounds, and on land they communicate through screams that resemble the sounds of a pipe and rattle. It has not yet been established whether they use their hearing to track prey and locate their natural enemies.

Nutrition

Penguins feed on fish - Antarctic silverfish (Pleuragramma antarcticum), anchovies (Engraulidae) or sardines (in Clupeidae), as well as crabs such as krill, or small cephalopods, which they prey on by swallowing directly underwater. If different species share the same habitat, their diet tends to be different: Adélie penguins and chinstrap penguins prefer krill of different sizes.

Movement

In diving, some penguins break records: smaller species such as the sub-antarctic penguin (Pygoscelis papua) can stay underwater for one or (rarely) more than two minutes and dive to a depth of 20 meters, but emperor penguins are able to stay underwater for 18 minutes and dive to over 530 meters. Although it is precisely the superpowers of Emperor penguins that remain little understood to this day, it is known, however, that when diving, the animal's pulse is reduced to one-fifth of the heart rate at rest; thus, oxygen consumption is reduced, which allows you to increase the duration of being under water with the same volume of air in the lungs. The mechanism for regulating pressure and body temperature during diving to great depths remains unknown.

When out of the water, penguins can jump up to 1.80 m from the coastline. Due to their relatively short legs on land, penguins move from side to side, a method of movement that biomechanics studies have shown to save a lot of energy. On the ice, penguins can also move quickly - they move down from the mountains, lying on their stomachs. Some species cover so many kilometers between the sea and the place where their colony settled.

Habitat

Penguins live in the high seas of the Southern Hemisphere: in the coastal waters of Antarctica, in New Zealand, southern Australia, South Africa, along the entire western coast of South America from the Falkland Islands to Peru, and also on the Galapagos Islands near the Equator. Penguins prefer coolness, therefore, in tropical latitudes, they appear only with cold currents - the Humboldt Current on the western coast of South America or the Benguela Current that occurs at the Cape of Good Hope and washes the western coast of South Africa.

Most species live between 45° and 60° south latitude; the largest accumulation of individuals is in Antarctica and on the islands adjacent to it.

The northernmost habitat for penguins is the Galápagos Islands, located near the equator.

reproduction

Penguins in folklore

There is a joke among Russian fans of Formula 1 pilot Kimi Raikkonen that during his years with the McLaren team, penguins (unexpectedly jumping onto the track or sitting in the car) were the cause of technical breakdowns and piloting errors.
There is another joke: Penguin and we are swallows, only very fat».

Literature

Beychek V., Stasny K. Birds. Illustrated encyclopedia. - M.: Labyrinth-press, 2004.
Life of animals. T.6 Birds. - M.: Enlightenment, 1986.

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 others have long tail feathers. 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, they 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 up quickly, thanks to the extremely abundant food continuously supplied 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 through island of Amsterdam, and in the Pacific through the Galapagos Islands; they are also found off 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 large forms, 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 hood. This includes the Cape penguin (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. African (donkey) penguins have declined so much that it is time to take urgent action. Last year in South Africa there were only 26,000 pairs of penguins compared to 121,000 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 of sardine and anchovy, or the movement of fish to other areas due to global warming, has led to this. 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 fishing and other maritime operations. Magellanic 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 this 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 severe time of the year - in 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, large bright orange spots on the sides of the black head and 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 in the highest degree unusual and mysterious, and therefore 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 very 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 the depths of the sea. 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.

Penguins are a well-defined group of birds of ancient origin. Currently, the superorder includes 6 genera and 16 species, forming one family - penguins (Spheniscidae). 36 species are known in the fossil state. The oldest penguin remains were found in New Zealand (Lower Miocene).

Penguins cannot fly or run, but they swim and dive very well. For example, spectacled penguins dive to a depth of 130 m, swim at a speed of 6.6 km / h; during the day, while feeding, the birds swim about 27 km, and at a depth of more than 3 m they spend an average of about 80 minutes per day. On land, penguins walk awkwardly, waddling and holding their bodies upright. In case of need, they fall on their belly on the snow and slide on it, pushing off with all four limbs. Travel speed 3-6 km/h.

The forelimbs of penguins 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 almost helically in the shoulder joint. Powerful pectoral muscles are attached to the well-developed keel of the sternum, which control the movement of the wings-fins. In some species of penguins, the pectoral muscles make up a quarter of their entire body weight, which is significantly larger than in many flying birds. The bones that form the skeleton of the wings are flattened like a plank. In terms of bone density, penguins are very different from other birds and are similar to marine mammals.

Penguins vary in size. The largest - the emperor penguin (weighing 35-40 kg) - reaches a length of 117 cm. The smallest - the small penguin has a length of 40 cm. The constitution of the penguins is dense, the body is slightly compressed in the dorsal-abdominal direction. The legs are short, thick, have 4 toes connected by swimming membranes. The legs are carried far back, which ensures the vertical position of the body on land. In the structure of a short tail, consisting of 16-20 feathers, on which rests standing bird, there are features similar to the structure of the tail of woodpeckers. The neck is thick and flexible, the beak is strong and sharp. The mouthparts act as a pump, sucking up a jet of water along with small prey. The plumage is very dense, apteria are absent. Small feathers resemble scales tightly attached to the body. The coloration of most species is similar: a dark (black) back and a white belly.

Penguins are common in the cold parts of the southern hemisphere, mainly in the Antarctic and Subantarctic. Some species are found at the southern extremities of Australia, Africa, South America, and where cold currents invade the tropics, they are found up to the equator (Galapagos Islands). The geographic distribution of penguins is largely related to the temperature of the ocean waters, in which birds spend two-thirds of their lives. It is believed that one of the main factors that shape the ranges of a particular penguin species is the ability of the chicks of this species to move to life in water of a certain temperature. For example, for king penguin chicks, it is necessary that the water on the sea surface warms up to +5 °C. The northern limit of distribution of most penguin species lies within the marine isotherm +15 - 16 ° C, passing approximately between 47 ° 30 "and 41 ° 30" S. sh.

All penguins are monogamous, their pairs are constant. At sea, they usually keep in flocks, on land during breeding - in colonies, the size of which can reach hundreds of thousands of pairs. Nesting colonies in most species are located on low rocky shores. Some species make simple nests on the surface of the earth, others nest in burrows or depressions in rocks. Usually there are 2 eggs in a clutch, less often one, very rarely 3. Usually both parents incubate. Incubation, as a rule, lasts about a month (30-39 days), for the emperor penguin 62-66 days, for the king penguin 54 days. A newly hatched emperor penguin chick weighs 315 g, Adélie penguin 80-90 g. The chicks are covered with thick down and are blind until the end of the second week of life. Chicks have a higher body temperature than adult birds. Chicks enter the water only after molting. Mortality of chicks is very high: starvation, cold and predators (skuas) often kill up to 70% of all hatched chicks.

Until about three weeks of age, one of the adult birds constantly keeps with the chicks. Then the parents leave the chicks and only occasionally return to feed them. From this time on, the chicks begin to unite in peculiar close groups - “nursery”. There can be from 3 to 64 chicks in a nursery (usually there are about a dozen of them). The mass formation of a nursery coincides with another phenomenon: at the same time, birds that do not breed in a given year return to the colony from the sea - immature 2-3-year-old penguins and birds that have lost their clutches. This period is called "reoccupation". Reoccupation plays an important role in the life of the colony and increases the survival of chicks, since non-breeding adult birds, usually located on the periphery of the colony, together with their parents, actively drive away skuas, which kill up to a quarter of all chicks. Skuas almost exclusively attack solitary chicks, and the formation of nurseries also reduces the mortality of the latter. If there are more adult birds in the colony than chicks, then nurseries usually do not form.

Adult penguins feed on small fish, small cephalopods and planktonic crustaceans, mainly euphausiids (krill). According to recent studies, in crested and golden-haired penguins, during a 70-day feeding period for chicks, adults bring food to chicks about 30 times. A crested penguin chick receives up to 0.65 kg for one feeding, and for the entire time of feeding up to 15 kg of krill, a golden-haired penguin chick receives 2 kg and 33 kg, respectively.

Penguins molt once a year. New feathers grow under the old ones, pushing them out, and the old plumage comes off the body in tatters. During molting, penguins live on land, in a place sheltered from the wind, and do not eat anything.

During non-breeding seasons, flocks of penguins roam the sea, moving away from nesting sites for many hundreds (up to 1000) kilometers. Most birds return to their original nesting sites.

Penguins have few enemies. In the sea, sea leopard and killer whale are dangerous for them, on land for chicks - skua. Where penguins came into contact with humans, local residents used their meat in small quantities for food and collected eggs. During the development of whaling in the Antarctic, whalers began to exterminate penguins. The subantarctic islands were gradually settled, land animals were brought to them, which switched to feeding on penguins, their eggs and chicks. In recent decades, numerous scientific bases in Antarctica and the development of tourism have also taken a heavy toll on penguin numbers, especially for species with a limited range.

The largest of the penguins belong to the genus Aptenodytes: these are emperor and king penguins. In addition to their size, they differ from other penguins by having orange or yellow spots on the sides of the upper neck.

emperor penguin(A. forsteri)- the largest of the penguins and the highest Antarctic bird species. It was discovered by F. F. Bellingshausen during his trip to the Antarctic at the beginning of the last century. The body length of males is up to 117 cm, females up to 114 cm. The maximum weight of males in which physiological starvation associated with breeding chicks is twice as long as that of females is 35-40 kg, females - 28-32 kg. The muscle mass is maximum among other bird species (mainly due to the pectoral muscles). The upper side of the body is dark, grayish-bluish, the underside is white. Chicks are covered with long white or grayish down.

The total number of emperor penguins in the early 60s. exceeded 200 thousand birds, which were concentrated on nesting in about 20 large colonies around the Antarctic coast.

Due to the slow development of chicks, the emperor penguin is forced to nest in the midst of the harshest Antarctic winter. Its nesting colonies are located on sea coastal ice, occasionally on continental ice. The northernmost colony is located north of the Southern, Arctic Circle, on Haswell Island ("66 ° 33" S), the southernmost is on Cape Crozier, in the depths of the Ross Sea (77 ° 29" S). The colonies are located in micro-climatic areas, mainly in terms of protection from the harsh winter winds blowing from deep within the Antarctic continent, located in the wind shadow behind cliffs, glaciers or ice ridges.

The second necessary condition is the existence in winter near the colonies of areas of the open sea, or at least polynyas and cracks, which adult birds need for regular feeding and rearing of chicks. Such "water points" near the Antarctic coast are formed in winter as a result of the movement of glaciers and the formation of icebergs and in connection with the activity of sea currents. All colonies of emperor penguins are located near such polynyas. In severe frosts, penguins gather in close groups, forming a "turtle". Scientists believe that they have developed a mechanism of social thermoregulation. Unlike, for example, Adélie penguins, which have strictly defined nesting sites and protect them from surrounding birds, emperor penguins have very low intraspecific aggressiveness. They are more shy than Adélie penguins. Attempts by French scientists to ring them during nesting were unsuccessful: when a person approached, the birds got scared and ran away, leaving their partners, eggs and chicks.

The stay of birds off the coast of Antarctica lasts about 10 months and is divided into 6 periods.
The first period is the formation of a colony. The maximum size of a colony is about 10 thousand birds, the minimum is 300 birds. The first birds appear on the nesting sites at the end of the Antarctic summer (mid-March - mid-April), when the sea is just beginning to be covered with ice. Arriving at the place, the birds unite in pairs, which is accompanied by screams and fights.

The second period is oviposition and incubation. At this time, the birds calmly stand in pairs during the day, and in the evening they gather together, forming a “turtle”, in which they spend most of the night. Eggs are laid during May - early June. The egg is always one, large (weight 450 g, size 12 x 9 cm; average egg temperature + 31.4 ° C). As soon as the egg is laid, the female, with the help of her beak, puts it on her paws and covers it with a special fold of skin on the underside of the belly (a pouch). Parents greet the appearance of the egg with loud cries. After a few hours, the egg is transferred to the male, and the female, after a 45-50-day hunger strike, goes to sea to feed. The males remaining with eggs, despite the difficulty of movement, at the slightest deterioration in the weather, gather in a "turtle". Non-breeding birds make up 4-8% of all birds in the colony at this time. The usual duration of incubation is 62-66, sometimes up to 100 days.

The third period is the return of the females, the departure of the males for feeding and the hatching of the chicks. The females return to the colony from June 20 until mid-July, after an absence of approximately 70 days. By the voice they find their males in the crowd of birds of the colony. Males give them eggs or hatched chicks and, in turn, go to sea to feed. The physiological hunger strike of males lasts 3 months or more, as a result of which they lose about 40% of their body weight. The average weight of the chick at hatching is 315 g. If the chick hatches before the female returns, then the male, despite a three-month hunger strike, feeds him with "milk" - the secret of the esophageal gland, which contains a glycolyloprotein substance that has more than 50% proteins. This allows the chick to survive for several days before the female returns from the sea. When the female returns and the male gives her the chick, she feeds it with krill and fish pulp.

The fourth period - rearing the chicks - begins in July and ends during the opening of the ice in December, during the Antarctic summer. First (in July-September), the chick is in the parent's bag, then it goes to life in the nursery, continuing to receive food from the parents.

The fifth period is the molting period, which lasts 30-35 days, the birds spend almost motionless in a secluded place, do not eat anything and lose a lot of weight.

In mid-December, when coastal ice begins to melt, the colony ceases to exist, and the penguins go to sea (sixth period).

Penguins or penguins (lat. Spheniscidae)- a family of flightless seabirds, the only one in the order Penguin-like (Sphenisciformes). There are 18 species in the family. All members of this family swim and dive well.

There are three versions of the origin of the name "penguin":
from the Welsh pen (head) and gwyn (white) denoting the extinct great auk (Pinguinus impennis) from the auk family. And the sailors named the penguins the same way because of their similarity. Until the discovery of Antarctica, the term pinguinus was used in Europe precisely in relation to great auk.
from the English word pinwing - wing-hairpin. The name, according to this version, again originally referred to the great auk. The version is rather doubtful, since in the very English language the word "penguin" is written as "penguin".
from the Latin word lat. pinguis - "thick"; this is confirmed by the fact that in many European languages the word "penguin" is associated with the word "fat"

General information
The largest of the modern representatives is the emperor penguin (height - 110-120 cm, weight up to 46 kg), the smallest - representatives of the species Eudyptula minor - a small penguin (height 30-45 cm, weight 1-2.5 kg). Such significant differences are explained by Bergman's rule, of which penguins are a frequent example. Bergman's rule states that animals living in cold regions have large body sizes, since this contributes to a more rational ratio of the volume and surface of the animal's body and, thereby, to a decrease in heat loss.

body structure
The body shape of the penguins is streamlined, which is ideal for movement in the water. The musculature and structure of the bones allow them to work underwater with their wings almost like screws. Unlike other flightless birds, penguins have a sternum with a distinct keel, to which powerful muscles are attached. Swimming under water differs from flying in the air in that the same energy is expended on raising the wing as on lowering, since water resistance is greater than air resistance, therefore penguin blades have a larger surface than other birds, on which it is attached musculature responsible for lifting the wing. The humerus and forearm bone are connected at the elbow straight and motionless, which increases the stability of the wing. The pectoral muscles are developed and sometimes make up to 30% of the body weight, which is several times greater than the muscles of the most powerful flying birds. The femurs are very short, the knee joint is immobile, and the legs are noticeably set back, which is the reason for the unusually upright gait. Large feet with a swimming membrane are relatively short - being on land, animals often rest, standing on their heels, while the rigid tail unit serves as additional support for them. The tail of penguins is greatly shortened, since the steering function, which it usually has in other waterfowl, is performed primarily by the legs in penguins. The second clear difference between penguins and other birds is bone density. All birds have tubular bones, which makes their skeleton lighter and allows them to fly or run fast, while in penguins they are similar to the bones of mammals (dolphins and seals) and do not contain internal cavities.

thermoregulation
Within their habitat, penguins are exposed to extreme climatic conditions and have different anatomical features that allow them to adapt to these conditions. For thermal insulation, first of all, a thick layer of fat - from 2 to 3 cm - is used, above which there are three layers of waterproof, short, tight-fitting feathers evenly distributed throughout the body. The air in the layers of feathers also effectively protects against heat loss while in the water. Penguins have a well-developed "heat transfer system" in the fins and legs: the arterial blood entering them gives off heat to the colder venous blood flowing back to the body, thus heat loss is minimized. This process is called the “reverse flow principle”.
Numerous small, undifferentiated, rather hair-like feathers that make up the plumage, in almost all species of penguins, have a grayish-blue, turning into a black tint on the back, and white on the stomach. This coloration is camouflage for many marine animals. The plumage of cubs is often gray or brown, but in some species the sides and belly are white. At the end of incubation of eggs and rearing of chicks, the penguins begin to change their plumage. During molting, penguins shed a large number of feathers at the same time and during this time they are not able to swim in the water and remain without food until new feathers grow.

Vision and hearing
The eyes of penguins are perfectly adapted to the conditions of swimming under water; the cornea of their eyes is very flat, as a result of which on land the birds are a little short-sighted. Another means of adaptation is the contractility and extensibility of the pupil, which is especially pronounced in emperor penguins diving to great depths. Due to this feature, the eyes of penguins very quickly adapt to changing light conditions in water at a depth of up to 100 m. An analysis of the pigment composition allows us to conclude that penguins see in the blue part of the spectrum better than in the red, and probably even perceive ultraviolet rays. Since light in the red part of the spectrum is already absorbed in the upper layers of the water, this feature of vision is likely the result of evolutionary adaptation.
The ears of penguins, like those of most birds, do not have a clear external structure. When diving, they are tightly closed with special feathers, so that water does not penetrate into the ear. In emperor penguins, in addition, the edge of the outer ear is enlarged so that it can close, thereby protecting the middle and inner ear from pressure damage that diving to great depths can cause.
Under water, penguins make almost no sounds, and on land they communicate through screams that resemble the sounds of a pipe and rattle. It has not yet been established whether they use their hearing to track prey and locate their natural enemies.

Nutrition
Penguins feed on fish - Antarctic silverfish (Pleuragramma antarcticum), anchovies (Engraulidae) or sardines (herring family), as well as crustaceans such as euphausiids, or krill, or small cephalopods, which they prey on by swallowing directly under water. If different species share the same habitat, their diet tends to be different: Adélie penguins and chinstrap penguins prefer krill of different sizes.
Species that feed on small crustaceans need more regularity of food than penguins that eat fish, but they spend much less energy on catching prey: if one successful attempt out of ten is enough for the latter, the former should catch up to sixteen crustaceans in one dive - in counting approximately one crustacean every six seconds - to make up for the energy costs of their own and their cubs. The number of dives during one hunt is different for each species of penguin and depends on the time of year: during the hatching of chicks, chinstrap penguins make more than 190 dives, and for emperor penguins, during their long transitions, this number can reach 860 or more.
During molting, and in some species (Adelie penguins, emperor, chinstrap and crested penguins) also during the hatching period, animals are forced to completely refuse food. This period in different species has a different duration - from one month for Adélie and crested penguins to three and a half months for male emperor penguins. Birds lose up to half their body weight as they are forced to take energy for metabolism from fat stores accumulated in advance. Male and female subantarctic, magnificent, little and donkey penguins replace each other when hatching chicks, this allows them to starve only during the molting period.
Penguins drink mostly sea water. Excess salt is excreted through special glands located above the eyes.

Movement

The average speed that penguins develop in the water is from five to ten kilometers per hour, but higher rates are possible over short distances. The fastest way to get around is "dolphin swimming"; while the animal jumps out of the water for a short time, like a dolphin. The reasons for this behavior are not clear: it is likely that this helps to reduce the resistance of the current, or is intended to confuse natural enemies.
During the day, while feeding, penguins can swim about 27 km, at a depth of more than 3 meters, birds spend an average of about 80 minutes a day. In diving, some penguins break records: smaller species, such as the gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis papua), can stay underwater for one or (rarely) more than two minutes and dive to a depth of 20 meters, but emperor penguins are able to stay underwater for 18 minutes and dive to a depth of more than 530 meters. Although the emperor penguin's superpowers remain little understood, it is known that when diving, the animal's pulse is reduced to one-fifth of the resting heart rate; thus, oxygen consumption is reduced, which allows you to increase the duration of being under water with the same volume of air in the lungs. The mechanism for regulating pressure and body temperature during diving to great depths remains unknown.
When out of the water, penguins can jump up to 1.80 m from the coastline. Due to their relatively short legs on land, penguins move from side to side, a method of movement that has been shown by biomechanical studies to save a lot of energy. On land, penguins develop a speed of 3-6 km / h. On ice, penguins can also move quickly - they move down from the mountains, lying on their stomachs. Some species cover so many kilometers between the sea and the place where their colony settled.

Habitat
The ancestors of penguins lived in a temperate climate - when Antarctica was not yet a solid piece of ice. The climate on the planet has changed. The continents drifted, Antarctica shifted to the South Pole and was covered eternal ice. Animals left from there or died out, but the penguins, having adapted to the cold, remained. True, earlier there were much more of them - in the course of evolution, at least 40 species that inhabited our planet more than 60 million years ago died out. Among the fossil penguins were real giants (such as Icadyptes salasi, recently found in Peru), as tall as a man and weighing up to 120 kg.
Penguins live in the open sea of the Southern Hemisphere: in the coastal waters of Antarctica, New Zealand, southern Australia, South Africa, along the entire coast of South America from the Falkland Islands to Peru, the Galapagos Islands near the equator. Penguins prefer coolness, therefore, in tropical latitudes, they appear only with cold currents - the Humboldt Current on the western coast of South America or the Benguela Current, which occurs at the Cape of Good Hope and washes the western coast of South Africa.
Most species live between 45° and 60° south latitude; the largest accumulation of individuals is in Antarctica and on the islands adjacent to it.
Most warm place penguin habitats - Galapagos Islands, located near the equator.

reproduction
Penguins nest most often in large colonies, often numbering tens of thousands of pairs or more. Both parents alternately take part in incubation of eggs and feeding of chicks. The chicks feed on fish and crustaceans that are half-digested and regurgitated by their parents. The young take refuge from the cold in the lower folds of the parent's abdomen.
The age at which penguins begin mating varies by species and gender. So, in small, magnificent, subantarctic and donkey penguins, the first mating occurs at the age of two years; female Adélie, chinstrap, king and emperor penguins generally begin mating a year later, while males of these species are ready to mate after another year. Golden-haired penguins are ready to mate only at the age of five years.
The above data are statistical averages: in practice, the older the penguins, the more time they spend in the colonies until the actual age at which they start mating. So, for example, king penguins at the age of one year most often do not visit the colony at all; in the second year of life, they appear there for literally a few days. V subsequent years visits to the colony become more frequent, and the length of stay in it gradually increases. Male emperor penguins often start incubating eggs only in the eighth year of life.
The time of year when penguins incubate their eggs depends primarily on climatic conditions. To the north, Galapagos, little and donkey penguins can hatch chicks throughout the year, and little penguins in individual cases it is possible to make even two clutches a year; almost all species living in regions from the subantarctic to the antarctic begin laying eggs mainly in spring or summer. A notable exception to this rule are emperor penguins - they lay eggs in autumn. Thus, the chicks grow up just in time for the Antarctic winter at temperatures as low as -40 °C and how they adapt to low temperatures plays a decisive role in their survival. King penguin chicks also overwinter in colonies further north. During this period, parents rarely feed them, so in their first winter, the chicks lose a lot of weight. In cold Antarctic regions, one egg is incubated, in temperate and warm regions, there may be several eggs.
Penguins, not only in the water, but also on land, prefer to stay in a flock. In particular, egg-laying, incubation and rearing of chicks in large colonies occur simultaneously in many species. Such colonies can contain up to 5 million animals.
Males of species that do not lead a sedentary lifestyle often arrive at the colony earlier than females during the brooding period and try to occupy a small territory, the area of which rarely exceeds one square meter. Thus, their social behavior is nest building oriented. The only exceptions are emperor penguins, which do not build nests and do not have pronounced social behavior other than relationships with a partner and their offspring.
Males try to attract the attention of females by making calls similar to the sound of a trumpet. If this is not the first attempt to find a partner, then often it turns out to be a female with whom the male mated last year. The "divorce rate" varies among penguins of different species: the percentage of magnificent penguins who chose next year another partner is about 14, which is very small; their loyalty to their partner is also emphasized by the fact that 12% of couples have been in a relationship for more than 7 years. The situation with Adélie penguins is different - more than 50% of animals of this species change their partner for the next year, respectively, there are no cases when the relationship lasted more than 6 years. It is known that a successful brood of the past year plays a big role in choosing a partner.
There is a strong relationship between the complexity of social behavior and mate selection mechanisms on the one hand, and colony size on the other: In large colonies, the mating rituals of crowded Adélie penguins, chinstrap, subantarctic and crested penguins attract attention both visually and acoustically; Magnificent penguins or Little penguins that build nests far apart, living in dense vegetation, on the contrary, behave much more reserved.

Egg laying and brood reduction
After copulation, in which the male is forced to balance on the partner's back, eggs are laid. While emperor and king penguins incubate their single egg on their paws, females of all other penguin species lay two eggs within three to five days in an ordinary nest, which they build from materials widely found in nature - grass or small pebbles. The eggs are white or greenish in color.
Not all penguin eggs hatch successfully: especially in young pairs, chicks often do not even hatch; it was found that two-year-old parents of hatched chicks had less than 33%. Hatching success, however, rises sharply with age and reaches over 90%; only in very old penguins does this drop again to 75% due to reduced fertility. In most cases, the first egg is slightly larger than the second, so the first chick hatches earlier.
The incubation period for different species is from one to two months. As a consequence, parents give preference to the older and larger chick, for example, he regularly receives more food than the one that hatched later, as a result of which the second chick in most cases soon dies. This so-called brood reduction is an evolutionary adaptation to a limited food supply: the early death of the second chick increases the chances of the first chick surviving, since there is no need to divide the limited resources between two chicks. At the same time, the second egg is a kind of "insurance" for parents in case of early death of the first chick.
While in most species brood reduction occurs only when food supplies are limited, and crested thick-billed penguins (E. pachyrhynchus) even almost always raise both chicks, brood reduction is the norm for crested penguins. It is noteworthy that the second egg of these penguins is larger than the first (the percentage is 20 to 70), and it is from the second egg that the first chick hatches.

rearing chicks
Chick rearing is divided into two phases: In the first two or three - for emperor penguins even six - weeks, the chick or chicks are under the constant supervision of one of the parents, while the other goes in search of food. When the chicks grow up, they are given to " Kindergarten- groups of young animals, and then both parents forage at the same time. Depending on the species, such groups, also called nurseries, may consist of a few animals from adjacent nests, as occurs with chinstrap or burro penguins, or as many as several thousand individuals, as with Adélie, gentoo or emperor penguins.
Feeding times vary between species: gentoo penguins feed their offspring daily, Adélie or chinstrap penguins every two days, and emperor penguins often only once every four days or less. However, the chicks of the latter receive more food at a time.
The amount of food in most cases corresponds to the stage of development of the chicks, however, in relation to body weight, it is always plentiful: Even chicks of small penguin species receive 500 g of food at a time; emperor penguins give their offspring up to one kilogram of fish at a time. King penguin chicks can be even heavier than their parents at 12 months.
Parental penguins of non-colonial species leave the colony shortly after molting (crested penguins, for example, within a week). In most cases, parental care ends here - cases of feeding chicks at sea are unknown, and besides, this is hardly feasible. subantarctic penguin chicks, all year round living near the colony, return to their parents for another two or three weeks and receive extra food; but after that they, too, are left to their own devices.

average life expectancy
The chances of penguins surviving for the first 12 months are quite low. For example, among Adélie penguins, only about half of all chicks survive after the first year. The decisive factor, on which the chances of survival largely depend, are the reserves of fat accumulated during residence in the colony, which in turn depend on feeding, that is, on the success of the parents in hunting.
The chances of survival of adults are much higher: in little Adélie penguins they are from 70% to 80%, in large emperor penguins even more than 90. The life expectancy of penguins is more than 25 years.

natural enemies
Because penguins nest mostly in isolated areas, adults on land have little to no natural predators; however, human-introduced mammals such as dogs and cats pose a serious threat. For self-defense, penguins use their beak and fins, which are effective weapons. But chicks left without parental care become easy prey for the brown skua (Catharacta antarctica). Some species of gulls use every opportunity to steal penguin eggs.
Leopard seals (Hydrurga leptonyx), Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus), Australian (Neophoca cinerea) and New Zealand sea lions (Phocarctos hookeri), as well as killer whales (Orcinus orca) and sharks (Selachii) prey on penguins in the sea, especially the above species seals often patrol shallow waters near colonies, where penguins cannot use their advantage - high maneuverability. Scientists estimate that about 5% of all Adélie penguins per year die in this way.
This is probably the reason for the seemingly inexplicable fear of birds before water, to which they are so well adapted. Before entering the water, the penguins approach the shore in small groups and seem to hesitate, since apparently no one wants to be the first to enter the sea (penguin effect); this procedure often takes up to half an hour. As soon as one of the penguins gathers courage and finally jumps into the water, the rest follow him.

Extinction Threat
Three species - the crested penguin (Eudyptes sclateri), the magnificent penguin (Megadyptes antipodes) and the Galapagos penguin (Spheniscus mendiculus) - were recognized as being on the verge of extinction at the beginning of the 21st century, and seven more species are in danger.
In the past, entire colonies of penguins were destroyed: people collected eggs for food and killed adults to melt subcutaneous fat and extract oil from it; today penguins face other dangers. Among them is habitat loss, as in the case of the magnificent penguins, which are threatened by increased land use and human encroachment on New Zealand's dune system. Feral mammals also pose a great danger, for example in the case of the Galapagos penguins, whose colonies on two islands were destroyed by feral dogs. In addition, climate change plays a big role: Galapagos penguin populations declined in the 1980s and 1990s due to declining fish numbers, which in turn was caused by the El Niño phenomenon associated with climate change.
Rock penguins (Eudyptes chrysochome), Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) or Humboldt penguins (Spheniscus humboldti) hunting anchovies and sardines in subantarctic waters affect commercial fishing interests, partly specializing in the same species. While fishing organizations are suing for loss of income, many penguins are being deprived of their staple food. However, measures are being taken to resolve this conflict while respecting the interests of the fishermen.
Donkey and Magellanic penguins, whose colonies are located on the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa or in the Strait of Magellan in South America, are adversely affected by oil pollution in water caused by shipping routes that lie there, in particular tanker routes. Oiled penguins can be caught, cleaned and released again, but the process is time-consuming and very expensive.
On the other hand, intensive hunting of baleen whales (Mysticeti) and the resulting increase in krill has led to significant increases in chinstrap and king penguin populations; the position of most Antarctic species is considered stable due to the isolation of their habitat.

Classification
The Penguin family (Spheniscidae) contains 6 genera, 18 (19) species:
Genus Emperor penguins (Aptenodytes)
Emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri)
King penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus)
Genus Crested penguins (Eudyptes)
Crested penguin (Eudyptes chrysocome)
Thick-billed penguin (Eudyptes pachyrhynchus)
Big penguin (Eudyptes robustus)
Schlegel penguin (Eudyptes schlegeli)
Great Crested Penguin (Eudyptes sclateri)
Golden-haired penguin (Eudyptes chrysolophus)
Genus Little penguins (Eudyptula)
Lesser Penguin (Eudyptula minor)
White-winged penguin (Eudyptula albosignata)
Genus Magnificent penguins (Megadyptes)
Magnificent penguin (Megadyptes antipodes)
Genus Antarctic penguins (Pygoscelis)
Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae)
Antarctic penguin (Pygoscelis antarctica)
Papuan penguin (Pygoscelis papua)
Genus Spectacled penguins (Spheniscus)
Spectacled penguin (Spheniscus demersus)
Galapagos penguin (Spheniscus mendiculus)
Humboldt penguin (Spheniscus humboldti)
Magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus)

penguins and man
The first acquaintance of a penguin and a man took place, obviously, in Australia: during archaeological excavations at the sites of ancient people, bones were found indicating that penguins were part of the diet of Australian aborigines in prehistoric times.
In Europe, penguins became known only at the end of the 15th - beginning of the 16th centuries. thanks to the travels of the Portuguese navigators Vasco da Gama and Ferdinand Magellan. The first known mention of these birds is in Vasco da Gama's diary entry dated November 25, 1497, when the navigator was in Mossel Bay on the coast of South Africa. There he saw the penguins known today as the Donkey (Spheniscus demersus) and Magellanic (Spheniscus magellanicus) penguins. The donkey penguin is the first of the species to receive a scientific description, the Latin name of the family and order is derived from it - it is used by the Swedish taxonomist Carl Linnaeus in his work "The System of Nature" (Systema Naturae) in 1758. Almost all other species were discovered only at the end 18th century and in the 19th century, when the territories of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans were explored.
Penguins are very curious birds and are almost fearless on land. Unlike tamed animals, which have ceased to be afraid of humans only due to frequent contact with them, most penguins do not naturally fear humans. According to many who have been to Antarctica, the birds mistook them for penguins, albeit a little strange, although there is no way to give scientific confirmation of whether this is true.

penguins in zoos
In Central Europe and Russia, penguins can only be found in zoos, some of which organize the so-called. "penguin marches" - the birds are released from the enclosures, and under the supervision of the caretaker, they take a short walk around the enclosure. Penguin marches are organized by the zoos of Munster, Munich, Edinburgh and others.
Penguins kept in captivity often suffer from a fungal infection of the respiratory tract, therefore, in order to protect against diseases, it is recommended to keep birds behind glass walls, especially in warm weather.

Penguins are the only family of a single order of penguin-like superorders of swimming birds of the chordate type. This family includes six genera, uniting 18 species of flightless, but good swimming birds. The oldest penguin fossils have been found in New Zealand in sediments dating back to the Lower Miocene period. 36 extinct species are known.

The sizes of individuals of this family are different. The emperor penguin has the largest dimensions and reaches a length of 1.15 m, and its weight can reach up to 40 kg. The Galapagos is the smallest representative of penguins, its length is not more than 50 cm. Penguins live in the cold climate of Antarctica, on the islands and coasts of South America, southern Africa and Australia. Distribution in areas with a warm climate can be associated with cold ocean currents.

The external structure of all penguins is similar. Their plumage is dense and short, feathers evenly cover the body. On the back, feathers are usually dark, and below the body they are white. Some species have a crest or spots of yellow on the head. Penguins molt once a year.

Penguins are excellent swimmers. They are capable of reaching speeds of up to 35 km / h in water and being under water for up to three minutes or more. They dive to a depth of 60 m and deeper. Their wings have transformed into original elastic flippers covered with scaly feathers, with which penguins work underwater like screws. The keel is well developed, despite the fact that they do not fly, because their swimming under water resembles flight. In this case, the webbed paws and tail act as a rudder. The pectoral muscles are well developed and control the movements of the wings-fins. The physique of these birds is dense, the shape of the body is streamlined. For thermal insulation there is a thick layer of subcutaneous fat. The presence of air gaps between the feathers of the animal also protects well from moisture loss, especially when swimming in cold water. The eyes and ears of penguins are adapted to stay underwater for long periods of time.

Penguins jump out of the water onto the shore or ice. And on land, these birds move on short and thick hind limbs, keeping the body in an upright position. If necessary, they can slide on their belly, pushing off with flippers. The beak is powerful and sharp. They feed by sucking water with small prey (fish, small crustaceans, mollusks) like a pump.

Penguins live in colonies on the coast, only some species settle in small groups. These families are monogamous, form permanent pairs. These birds are characterized by complex social behavior. This applies to behavior in the pack and the choice of a partner. Nests are built on pebbles and stones, less often in caves or under trees. Usually, females lay one or two eggs, less often three, and the male and female incubate the eggs in turn for 30-40 days. Chicks appear at relatively low temperatures (up to -50 degrees), covered with thick down. In the colony, adult birds protect the chicks. On average, the life expectancy of penguins is over 25 years. These birds occupy leading positions in the biocenoses of the coastal waters of Antarctica, the open seas of the southern hemisphere.