What is the beak of a penguin. Interesting facts about penguins

Penguins are flightless, but well-swimming seabirds from the penguin-like order. Among those who eat penguins and their eggs, there are many predators: fur seals, lions, sea leopards, sharks, killer whales. Chick eggs can be killed by giant petrels, white plovers, skuas, and crabs. Lions, foxes, stray dogs, jackals, hyenas and other land predators love to eat penguins. The chicks are attacked by rats. Armed poachers are another enemy of penguins on land. Here the bird does not move as dexterously as in the water, where the penguin is mobile and able to swim away even from a shark. Polar bears do not eat penguins because they do not encounter them in their natural environment.

Types of penguins

There are about 20 species of penguins. They are grouped into genera:

• royal, imperial (imperial penguins);
• crested, thick-billed, Schlegel penguin, rocky golden-haired, large crested penguin (crested penguins);
• little, white-winged penguin (small penguins);
• magnificent penguin (one of a kind);
• Adélie penguin, chinstrap, gentoo penguin (antarctic penguins);
• spectacled, Humboldt penguin, Galapagos, donkey, Magellanic penguin (spectacled penguins).

Habitat of penguins

One third of their life, which lasts up to twenty-five years, penguins swim off the coast of New Zealand, Antarctica, in southern Australia, South America (Falkland Islands - Peru), South Africa and along the coast of the Galapagos Islands near the equator. Most penguins live in Antarctica and on the islands of the South Pole - birds prefer a cool climate. The exception is the equatorial waters of the Galapagos, while in tropical latitudes on the shores of South America, South Africa, penguins can be seen with cold currents - Benguela, Humboldt.

What do penguins eat

Penguins eat mainly fish: anchovies, sardines and other herring, Antarctic silverfish. They also catch crustaceans, krill, and cephalopods. When hunting, penguins are afraid to be the first to enter the water, for fear of being eaten by a seal, a killer whale, which, waiting for them, often ply near the coast.

Penguins do not have many natural enemies, the most dangerous place for them is water, shallow water, where they spend a third of their lives. Seals and sharks are waiting for them near the shore. On land, penguin chicks and eggs are easy prey.

Probably 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 great 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 a depth of three meters 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. Longer than a bird sleep during molting: during this period they eat little, and extra sleep allows them to reduce energy expenditure. 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.

Southern Hemisphere- an exceptional habitat for all 17 species of the penguin family.

The largest penguin- the emperor penguin, whose height reaches 120 cm, and the smallest is the small, or blue penguin. His average height is only 33 cm.

The fastest of the penguins- subantarctic, or gentoo penguin. Under water, it can reach speeds of up to 36 km / h.

Color, as usual in the animal kingdom, helps penguins to mimic under environment: black back merges with the dark and gloomy seabed, and the white belly merges with the light surface of the water.

penguin ancestors survived the mass extinction of dinosaurs - this is evidenced by the fossilized remains of the earliest relative of penguins, whose age, according to scientists, is about 60 million years.

Specialized supraocular gland, which penguins have, filters salt water from the bloodstream. The fact is that when hunting for fish, penguins swallow a lot of sea water. With the help of this gland, they excrete salt water through their beak or by sneezing.

Molting penguins, unlike other birds, large-scale. If other birds drop a few feathers, then the penguins do not waste time - they get rid of huge amount feathers at a time, which is why they cannot swim and are forced to stay on land (read - without food) until new feathers grow.

In the colonies, the number of which can reach thousands of birds, almost all penguins are brought up - with the exception of just a few species.

Penguins are monogamous and monogamous. It depends on the specific species, but most penguins mate for life.

Nest, which create penguins, as a rule, also becomes permanent: in most cases, penguins nest where they themselves were born.

emperor penguins, unlike other brethren, do not make nests of pebbles and feathers. The female emperor penguin lays only one egg, which is incubated in a brood pouch - a special fold in the underside of the belly. First, the female incubates the egg, then, rolling, gives it to the male (who also has a brood bag).

plump males have advantages over slender penguins - they have enough fat to survive several weeks without food, incubating the egg while the female goes to feed.

About chicks cared for by both parents, male and female. As a rule, it takes several months for the baby to be strong enough for independent hunting.

Kidnapping not news for emperor penguins: if a female dies, she can kidnap someone else.

Excellent hearing almost all types of penguins can boast, despite the lack of visible ears. They easily recognize by the voice of their comrades among hundreds of other penguins in a populous colony.

"Strange Geese"- so called the penguins Antonio Pigafetta, who traveled with Magellan in 1520 and was the first person to tell the world about the mysterious birds.

In 1487 on board Vasco da Gama's ship among the entries of the anonymous diary there are descriptions of flightless birds in the area of ​​the Cape of Good Hope. Perhaps it was also about penguins.

No fear penguins do not experience people in front of people, because they are not used to danger on earth. Don't be surprised when you hear stories of someone petting or hand-feeding penguins.

The air in the layers of feathers is the tool that protects penguins from heat loss, especially when swimming (in very, very cold water).

The word "penguin" itself has been used since the 16th century in relation to the great auk (lat. Pinguinus impennis), an extinct species that once lived off the eastern coast of Canada. When the researchers traveled to the Southern Hemisphere and encountered black and white birds that looked like great auks, they dubbed them penguins.

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, swimming out to sea at a distance of up to 1000 km.

On land, if it is necessary to move quickly, the penguin lies on its belly and, pushing off with its limbs, quickly slides over ice or snow.

With this method of movement, penguins develop a speed of 3 to 6 km / h.

The life expectancy of a penguin in nature is 15-25 years or more. In captivity, with ideal bird keeping, this figure sometimes increases to 30 years.

Enemies of penguins in nature

Unfortunately, the penguin has enemies in its natural habitat. Seagulls are happy to peck at penguin eggs, and helpless chicks are tasty prey for skua. Fur seals, killer whales, leopard seals and sea lions hunt penguins in the sea. They will not refuse to diversify their menu with a well-fed penguin and sharks.

What do penguins eat?

Penguins eat fish, crustaceans, plankton and small cephalopods. The bird enjoys eating krill, anchovies, sardines, Antarctic silverfish, small octopuses and squid. For one hunt, a penguin can make from 190 to 800-900 dives: it depends on the type of penguin, climatic conditions and food needs. The oral apparatus of the bird works on the principle of a pump: through its beak, it sucks in medium-sized prey along with water. On average, while feeding, birds swim about 27 kilometers and spend about 80 minutes a day at a depth of more than 3 meters.

The geographical distribution of these birds is quite extensive, but they prefer coolness. Penguins live in the cold zones of the Southern Hemisphere, mainly their concentrations are observed in the Antarctic and in the Subantarctic region. They also live in southern Australia and South Africa, are found almost along the entire coastline 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, Tierra del Fuego, Crozet, Kerguelen, South Georgia, Macquarie, Heard, Prince Edward, coastal waters of the Lusitania Bay.

• Adelie Penguin ( Pygoscelis adeliae)

medium sized bird. The length of the penguin is 65-75 cm, weight - about 6 kg. The back is black, the belly is white, a distinctive feature is a white ring around the eyes. Adélie penguins live in Antarctica and on the island territories adjacent to it: the Orkney and South Shetland Islands.

• Northern crested penguin ( Eudyptes moseleyi)

endangered species. The length of the bird is approximately 55 cm, 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 during appearance: This penguin has a spectacular tuft of golden feathers above the eyes. Body length varies between 64-76 cm, Weight Limit- a little over 5 kg. Golden-haired penguins live along the southern shores of the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic, are slightly less common in the northern part of Antarctica and Tierra del Fuego, and nest on other islands of the Subantarctic.

• gentoo penguin ( Pygoscelis papua)

the largest penguin in size after the emperor and king. The length of the bird reaches 70-90 cm, the weight of the penguin is from 7.5 to 9 kg. The black back and white belly are a typical color of birds of this species, the beak and paws are painted in an orange-red hue. The habitat of penguins is limited to Antarctica and the islands of the Subantarctic zone (Prince Edward Island, South Sandwich and Falkland Islands, Heard Island, Kerguelen, South Georgia, South Orkney Islands).

• Magellanic Penguin ( Spheniscus magellanicus)

has a body length of 70-80 cm and a weight of about 5-6 kg. The plumage color is typical for all penguin species, a feature is 1 or 2 black stripes in the neck. Magellanic penguins nest on the Patagonian coast, on the islands of Juan Fernandez and the Falklands, small groups live in southern Peru and in Rio de Janeiro.

• Pygoscelis antarctica)

reaches a height of 60-70 cm and weighs no more than 4.5 kg. The back and head are painted dark gray, the belly of the penguin is white. A black stripe runs across the head. Antarctic penguins live on the coast of Antarctica and the islands adjacent to the continent. They are also found on icebergs in Antarctica and the Falkland Islands.

• spectacled penguin, he is donkey penguin, black-footed penguin or African penguin ( Spheniscus demersus)

reaches a length of 65-70 centimeters and weighs from 3 to 5 kg. Distinctive feature birds is a narrow strip of black, curving in the shape of a horseshoe and passing along the belly - from the chest to the paws. Spectacled penguin lives on the coast of Namibia and South Africa, nests along the coastline of islands with a cold Bengal current.

• little penguin ( Eudyptula minor)

the smallest penguin in the world: the bird has a height of 30-40 cm and a weight of about 1 kg. The back of the little penguin is colored blue-black or dark gray, the chest area and the upper part of the legs are white or light gray. Penguins live on the coast of South Australia, in Tasmania, New Zealand and on the adjacent islands - Stewart and Chatham.

penguin breeding

Penguins are collective birds. In the water element, they keep in flocks, on land they form colonies, the number of individuals in which reaches several tens and even hundreds of thousands. All representatives of the penguin family are monogamous and create permanent pairs.

The readiness for mating and incubation of offspring in penguins depends on the species and gender. Usually, males mature later than females, some species are ready for the appearance of penguins at the age of 2 years, other varieties of penguins begin to think about offspring a year later, others become parents only at the age of five (for example, golden-haired penguins).

During the mating season, males make rather loud sounds, reminiscent of the sound of a trumpet, trying to attract the attention of females.

Penguins nest most often on low rocky shores, while some species make primitive nests from pebbles and sparse vegetation, while others choose depressions in the rocks.

Usually 2 eggs appear in the clutch, sometimes one, very rarely three. The penguin egg is white or slightly greenish in color. Both parents incubate the eggs, replacing each other during absences for food. The incubation period lasts from 30 to 100 days depending on the type of bird.

Penguin chicks hatch blind, with thick fluff on their bodies, and begin to see clearly after a couple of weeks. The weight of a newborn penguin varies depending on the species and can reach 300 grams. Despite parental care, more than 60% of chicks die from starvation, low temperatures and skuas attacks.

For about 20 days, the penguin chicks are under constant care, but after three weeks of care, the parents leave their babies, only occasionally bringing them food. This factor leads to the fact that slightly grown up penguins begin to unite in groups called by scientists “kindergartens” or “nurseries”.

Often the period of formation of such "nurseries" falls on the time when immature penguins or birds return to the colony from sea voyages, for some reason they have lost their clutches. These individuals are actively involved in caring for the young, participate in their feeding and protect from predatory skuas, thereby increasing the survival rate of the still defenseless chicks.

Until the first molt, the penguins are exclusively on land, plunging into the water for the first time only with the appearance of thick, almost waterproof plumage.

Do they eat penguins?

It is difficult to give a definite answer to such a question. Today, a person is unlikely to decide on such a delicacy, although in extreme conditions everything can be. According to some reports, penguin meat dishes include in their menu some peoples inhabiting the territory of Antarctica.

Confirmed evidence of the use of penguin meat for food is the information in the book "Antarctic Odyssey" by author R. Priestley. It describes in detail the hunt for penguins by members of the expedition in order not to die of hunger due to lack of provisions. True, this happened quite a long time ago, at the beginning of the 20th century, and was caused by unforeseen circumstances, when the duration of the expedition unexpectedly increased. According to participants, the penguin breast was valued for its nutritional value due to its fat content and tasted good.

• Among the penguins there are champion swimmers: gentoo penguins reach speeds in the water up to 32-36 km / h.
• The Magellanic penguin got its name from a famous traveler who discovered an unusual flightless bird in 1520 near the island of Tierra del Fuego.
• On land, the penguin is very clumsy and quite often, throwing its head back sharply, loses its balance and falls on its back. From this position, the bird can no longer rise on its own, therefore, at many polar stations, amazing profession- penguin lifter, or penguin flipper. This person helps the penguins roll over and assume the bird's normal upright position.

Of the seven species of penguins that live in Antarctica, the emperor penguin, the largest, lives farthest south. He breeds his chicks in winter on the shelf ice; this is perhaps the only bird that never sets foot on the ground in its life. The female, having laid an egg, passes it to the male, who, holding it on its paws and warming it with a leathery fold of the abdomen, incubates it for 65 days.


If it gets cold, the chicks, sitting on the paws of their parents, hide in the fold of the abdomen, similar to a hood.

Emperor penguins look for places to hatch their chicks at the beginning of the Antarctic winter, in March. The largest of the 30 known colonies has 50,000 birds. Male and female, who create a family once and for all life, recognize each other in this confusion by typical gestures, such as bows, and trumpet calls. In mid-June, they lay one pear-shaped egg. Now the female carefully passes it to the male for incubation. The mothers then leave the colony, going in long lines to the edge of the pack ice, where they eat after a two-month fast.


A "fur coat" of feathers protects the penguin from the cold, but it allows water to pass through. Therefore, he will be able to go into the water only after the first molt.

The fathers are left alone in the grip of the harsh Antarctic winter. They stand resignedly in the midst of pitch darkness, hurricane blizzards rage around, wind speeds sometimes reach 200 km / h, and average temperatures are minus 20 ° C. To avoid losing precious heat, the males move tightly into a circle, and turn their backs outward. During incubation, they lose up to 40% of their mass.

Emperor penguins take care not only of their own, but also of other people's chicks. This is how "kindergartens" are formed. Clinging to each other, teenagers protect themselves from the cold and from enemies.

Mothers return by the time the chicks hatch. They come "home", plump, rounded, with a goiter stuffed with food taken from the sea, and now they take care of the chicks. The next month and a half, the newborn spends on the feet of one or the other parent. They, replacing each other in turn, get food until the child grows up; at this time, under the supervision of several adult birds, "kindergartens" are formed. Groups of fluffy chicks, huddled together to protect themselves from the cold and enemies, sit tightly pressed against each other. Now parents can go to the sea and get their own food. At the beginning of summer, the ice on the sea breaks up and the colony breaks up. Now young birds must shed and dress in waterproof plumage in order to hunt at sea from now on. During the short Antarctic summer, juveniles in the open pack ice zone will grow to the size of adult animals. Penguins live on average up to 25 years, unless, of course, their life is cut short by a killer whale - their worst enemy.

It is vital for emperor penguins to start hatching chicks already in the dark winter: only then will the chicks have time to mature by the beginning of summer.