Penguins, or penguins (Srhenissidai) are a fairly large family today, represented by flightless seabirds, the only modern animals from the order Penguin-like (Srhenissiformes). Such members of the family can swim and dive well, but they cannot fly at all.

Description of penguins

All penguins have a streamlined body shape, ideal for free movement in the aquatic environment.. Thanks to the developed musculature and the arrangement of bones, animals are able to actively work their wings under water almost like real screws. A significant difference from flightless birds is the presence of a sternum with a pronounced keel and powerful muscles. The bones of the shoulder and forearm have only a direct and fixed connection in the elbow part, due to which the work of the wings is stabilized. The muscles in the chest area are developed, accounting for up to 25-30% of the total body weight.

The size and weight of penguins vary according to species. For example, the length of an adult emperor penguin is 118-130 cm and weighs 35-40 kg. Penguins are distinguished by very short femurs, an immobile knee joint and legs that are noticeably displaced towards the back, which is the reason for the unusually straight gait of such an animal.

This is interesting! The bones of any penguin have a noticeable similarity with the bone tissue of such mammals as dolphins and seals, so they completely lack the internal cavities characteristic of flying birds.

In addition, the seabird is characterized by the presence of relatively short feet with a special swimming membrane. The tail section of all penguins is noticeably shortened, since the main steering function is assigned to the legs. Also a pronounced difference from other representatives of birds is the bone density of penguins.

Appearance

The rather well-fed body of the penguin is slightly compressed from the sides, and the not very large head of the animal is located on a flexible and mobile, rather short neck. The sea bird has a very strong and sharp beak. The wings are modified into elastic type flippers. The body of the animal is covered with numerous small, undifferentiated, hair-like feathers. Nearly all adult species have greyish-blue to black plumage on the back and a white belly. In the process of molting, a significant part of the plumage is shed, which negatively affects the ability to swim.

In their natural habitat, penguins are exposed to natural, but so-called extreme climate conditions, which explains some of the anatomical features of seabirds. Thermal insulation is represented by a sufficient layer of fat, the thickness of which is 20-30 mm. Above the fat layer are layers of waterproof and short, very tight plumage. In addition, heat retention is facilitated by the “reverse flow principle”, which consists in transferring heat from arteries to colder venous blood, which reduces heat loss to a minimum.

This is interesting! In the underwater environment, penguins rarely make sounds, but on land, such seabirds communicate with calls that resemble the sounds of a rattle or a pipe.

The penguin's eyes are excellent for scuba diving, with very flat corneas and pupillary contractility, but on land the seabird suffers from some myopia. Thanks to the analysis of the pigment composition, it was possible to determine that penguins see the blue spectrum best, and most likely are able to perceive ultraviolet rays well. The ears do not have a clear external structure, but in the process of diving they are tightly covered with special feathers that prevent water from entering inside and actively prevent pressure damage.

Character and lifestyle

Penguins are excellent swimmers, able to dive to a depth of 120-130 meters, and also quite easily overcome a distance of 20 km or more, while developing a speed of up to 9-10 km / h. Outside of the breeding season, seabirds move almost a thousand kilometers from the coastline, moving into open sea waters.

This is interesting! Penguins live in colonies and unite on land in peculiar flocks, including tens and even hundreds of thousands of individuals.

To move on land, penguins lie on their belly and push off with their paws. Thus, the animal slides quite easily on the surface of snow or ice, developing a maximum speed of up to 6-7 km/h.

How long do penguins live

The average life expectancy of penguins in nature can vary from fifteen years to a quarter of a century.. Subject to all the rules of keeping and providing full care in captivity, this figure may well be increased to thirty years. It should be noted that the chances of survival of penguins, regardless of species, during the first year of life are quite low.

Types of penguins

The Penguin family includes six genera and eighteen species:

• big penguins (artenodytes) - birds with black and white plumage and a characteristic yellow-orange color of the neck. Representatives of the genus are noticeably larger and much heavier than any other species, do not build nests and incubate eggs inside a special leathery fold in the belly area. Species: Emperor penguin (Artenodytes forsteri) and King penguin (Artenodytes patagonicus);
• golden-haired penguins (Eudyrtes) - a sea bird up to 50-70 cm in size, with a very characteristic tuft in the head area. This genus is represented by six living species: Crested penguin (E.chrysosome), Northern crested penguin (E.moseleyi), Thick-billed penguin (E.rashyrhynchus), Snare crested penguin (E.robustus), Schlegel penguin (E.shlegeli), Great Crested Penguin (E. sclateri) and Golden-haired Penguin (E. chrysolorhus);
• Little penguins (Eudyptula) - a genus that includes two species: the Little or blue penguin (Eudyptula minor) and the white-winged penguin (Eudyptula albosignata). Representatives of the genus are of medium size, differ in body length in the range of 30-42 cm with an average weight of about one and a half kilograms;
• yellow-eyed, or gorgeous penguin, also known as antipodes penguin (Megadyptes antirodes) is a bird that is the only non-extinct species belonging to the genus Megadyptes. The growth of a sexually mature individual is 70-75 cm with a body weight in the range of 6-7 kg. The name is due to the presence of a yellow stripe near the eyes;
• Antarctic penguins (pygoscelis) - a genus currently represented by only three modern species: the Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae), as well as the Antarctic penguin (Pygoscelis antarctica) and the gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis papua);
• Spectacled penguins (Scheniscus) - a genus that includes only four species that have an external resemblance in color and size: Spectacled penguins (Srheniscus demersus), Galapagos penguins (Srheniscus mendiculus), Humboldt penguins (Srheniscus humboldti) and Magellanic penguins (Srheniscus m angelanicus).

The largest modern representatives of the Penguins are, and the smallest in size are the Small Penguins, which have a height of 30-45 cm with an average weight in the range of 1.0-2.5 kg.

Range, habitats

The ancestors of the penguins inhabited areas with temperate climatic conditions, but at that time Antarctica was not a solid piece of ice. With climate change on our planet, there has been a change in the habitats of many animals. The drift of the continents and the displacement of Antarctica to the South Pole caused the migration of some representatives of the fauna, but it was the penguins who were able to adapt quite well to the cold.

The penguins inhabit the open seas in the Southern Hemisphere, the coastal waters of Antarctica and New Zealand, the southern part of Australia and South Africa, the territory of the entire coast of South America, as well as the Galapagos Islands near the equator.

This is interesting! To date, the warmest habitat of modern penguins are located near the equatorial line of the Galapagos Islands.

Sea birds prefer coolness, therefore, in tropical latitudes, such animals appear exclusively with a cold current. A significant part of all modern species lives in the range from 45 ° to 60 ° south latitude, and Antarctica and the islands adjacent to it are distinguished by the largest accumulation of individuals.

penguin diet

The main diet of penguins is represented by fish, crustaceans and plankton, as well as medium-sized cephalopods. Seabirds eat krill and anchovies, sardines, Antarctic silverfish, small octopuses and squids with pleasure. During one hunt, a penguin can make about 190-900 dives, the number of which depends on the species characteristics, as well as the climatic conditions in the habitat and the need for food.

This is interesting! Representatives of penguins drink mainly sea salt water, and excess salts are excreted from the body of the animal through special glands that are located in the supraocular region.

The mouth apparatus of the penguin functions on the principle of a conventional pump, therefore, through the beak, small prey is sucked in by the bird along with a sufficient amount of water. As observations show, the average distance that a seabird overcomes during one of its feedings is about 26-27 kilometers. Penguins can spend about an hour and a half a day at a depth exceeding three meters.

Reproduction and offspring

Penguins nest, as a rule, in fairly large colonies, and both parents take turns incubating the eggs and feeding the chicks. The mating age directly depends on the species and sex of the animal. For example, little, magnificent, donkey and subantarctic penguins mate for the first time at the age of two, and golden-haired penguins - only after reaching the age of five.

Galapagos, little and donkey penguins are characterized by hatching chicks throughout the year, and little penguins in some cases are able to carry out even a couple of clutches within one year. Many species that inhabit the subantarctic and antarctic regions start breeding in the spring and summer, and emperor penguins lay eggs only with the onset of autumn. Chicks are most often well adapted to low temperatures and prefer to spend the winter in colonies that are located to the north. During the wintering period, parents practically do not feed their offspring, so the chicks can significantly lose weight.

This is interesting! Males, which are not sedentary species, appear during the brooding period in the colony before females, which allows them to occupy a certain territory that will be used to create a nest.

The male actively attracts the attention of the female by making trumpet calls, but often seabirds that have mated in the past season become partners. There is also a very strong relationship that develops between the mechanism of mate selection and complexity in social behavior with the size of the colony. As a rule, in large colonies, the mating ritual can be accompanied by visual and acoustic attraction of attention, and penguins inhabiting dense vegetation prefer to behave more discreetly and inconspicuously.

Penguins are special birds, penguin order, penguin family. Unlike the vast majority of birds, these birds do not fly, but they are excellent swimmers and divers. To do this, they have a suitable structure - a streamlined body shape, tight-fitting feathers, a movable neck and a sharp beak.

There is a common misconception about their range. Everything most people know about these birds is taken from feature films, cartoons and, a little, from encyclopedias. Penguins are touching with their clumsiness. On land, these birds move with difficulty, funny waddling from paw to paw. They are very cute, their image is often used to create soft toys, drawings and advertising. If you ask ten people about where penguins live, then eight of them will answer that these birds live in the North. But it's not.

Structure, description, range of penguins

Features of the structure of the penguin

It has already been said that penguin's body smooth, streamlined shape. Its wings, as a result of evolution, have become very flexible flippers. When he swims underwater, his shoulder joint rotates like a screw. The legs of the bird are short, four-toed. He also has membranes between his fingers, which help in maneuverable swimming. Another feature of the structure distinguishes the penguin from other birds - its legs are shifted far back. Thanks to this, he stands and moves on land strictly vertically.

To maintain balance, the penguin uses its short tail as a support. Also, his bones are not tubular, like most birds, but more like the skeleton of marine mammals. And for thermal insulation, like all animals that live in the cold, the penguin has an excellent warming fat layer. The features of their plumage also protect birds from cold and getting wet. Feathers fit snugly from head to toe. Birds cannot boast of a variety of colors - all species have a black back and a white belly. The black color is good at storing heat from the sun and also helps with overall thermoregulation.

Feeding penguins fish, crustaceans and various shellfish. Their oral apparatus is interestingly arranged - in order to catch prey, the bird sucks it in together with water.

Periodically, the bird molts. At this time of vulnerability and untidy appearance. The plumage is not replaced at the same time, and old feathers hang in tatters all over its body. Also, during molting, the bird does not eat, tries to hide from the wind and does not swim.

That, how long do penguins live depends on their type. On average, large species live up to 25 years, while smaller species live up to 15 years. In zoos and with good care, these numbers will certainly increase.

area

Despite popular misconception, penguins do not live at the North Pole. They live at the South Pole, in its cold regions. These birds also live in Australia and, oddly enough, South Africa, South America and the Galapagos Islands. The habitat of a bird also depends, of course, on its species.

There are 19 species of penguins known to science, included in 6 genera.. Here are the most famous of them:

penguin breeding

Penguins are very social birds.. They live in packs and often huddle together in large groups, huddling tightly against each other to survive cold times. Most of them are monogamous and form one pair for life. Their nesting sites are on a rocky shore, and some species create a pebble structure that mimics a rounded nest. Also, a recess in the rock can serve as a nest. Most often, there are 2 eggs in a clutch. Less often 3 or 4. Both parents incubate them, periodically replacing each other to eat and stretch.

The embryo develops from 30 to 100 days, the timing depends on the species. Then a chick hatches. He is covered in down, helpless and blind. Parents continuously care for him, and, after 2 weeks, the chick will begin to see and become more independent. Unfortunately, about 60% of chicks die from various aggressive environmental factors - low temperatures, predator attacks and starvation.

As soon as the cub opens its eyes, parents cease to patronize him constantly and move away, only occasionally feeding the chick. Because of this, babies huddle in flocks to bask or protect themselves from seagulls. The whole colony begins to participate in feeding the offspring. This will continue until the first molt of the young, after which they receive a feather cover that is almost identical to that of an adult bird. Then the chicks will be able to dive and start feeding on their own.

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 sex. 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 start 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 they are actually the 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. In 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. Living to the north, Galapagos, little and donkey penguins can hatch chicks throughout the year, and little penguins in some cases even manage to make 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, who lay eggs in the fall. Thus, the chicks grow just during the Antarctic winter at temperatures down to -40 ° C, and ways of adapting to low temperatures play 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 during the brooding period often arrive at the colony earlier than females 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 choose another partner next year is about 14, which is very low; 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 living in dense vegetation or little penguins building nests far from each other, on the contrary, behave much more restrained.

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 the short tail, consisting of 16-20 feathers, on which the standing bird rests, 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 that blow from the depths of the Antarctic continent.They are located in the wind shadow behind cliffs, glaciers or ice irregularities.

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).

The penguin is a flightless bird that belongs to the penguin-like order, the penguin family (Spheniscidae).

The origin of the word "penguin" has 3 versions. The first suggests a combination of the Welsh words pen (head) and gwyn (white), which originally referred to the now-extinct great auk. Due to the similarity of the penguin with this bird, the definition was transferred to him. According to the second version, the name of the penguin was given by the English word pinwing, which means “hairpin wing”. The third version is the Latin adjective pinguis, meaning "thick".

Penguin - description, characteristics, structure

All penguins can swim and dive excellently, but they cannot fly at all. On land, the bird looks rather awkward due to the structural features of the body and limbs. The penguin has a streamlined body shape with highly developed musculature of the pectoral keel, which often makes up a quarter of the total mass. The body of the penguin is quite well-fed, slightly compressed from the sides and covered with feathers. Not too large head is on a mobile, flexible and rather short neck. The penguin's beak is strong and very sharp.

As a result of evolution and lifestyle, penguin wings have changed into elastic flippers: when swimming under water, they rotate in the shoulder joint according to the screw principle. The legs are short and thick, have 4 fingers connected by swimming membranes.

Unlike other birds, the penguin's legs are significantly extended back, which forces the bird to keep its body strictly upright while on land.

To maintain balance, the penguin is helped by a short tail, consisting of 16-20 hard feathers: if necessary, the bird simply leans on it, as if on a stand.

The skeleton of a penguin does not consist of hollow tubular bones, which is common for other birds: the bones of a penguin are more similar in structure to the bones of marine mammals. For optimal thermal insulation, the penguin has an impressive supply of fat with a layer of 2-3 centimeters.

The plumage of penguins is dense and dense: individual small and short feathers cover the body of a bird like a tile, protecting it from getting wet in cold water. The color of feathers in all species is almost identical - a dark (usually black) back and a white belly.

Once a year, the penguin molts: new feathers grow at different rates, pushing out the old feather, so the bird often has an untidy, ragged appearance during the molting period.

During molting, penguins are only on land, trying to hide from gusts of wind and eat absolutely nothing.

The sizes of penguins differ depending on the species: for example, the emperor penguin reaches 117-130 cm in length and weighs from 35 to 40 kg, and the small penguin has a body length of only 30-40 cm, while the weight of the penguin is 1 kg.

In search of food, penguins are able to spend a lot of time under water, plunging into its thickness by 3 meters and covering distances of 25-27 km. The speed of a penguin in the water can reach 7-10 km per hour. Some species dive to a depth of 120-130 meters.

During the period when penguins are not concerned with mating games and caring for their offspring, they move quite far from the coast, sailing into the sea at a distance of up to 1000 km.

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

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

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

Enemies of penguins in nature

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

What do penguins eat?

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

The geographical distribution of these birds is quite extensive, but they prefer coolness. Penguins live in the cold zones of the Southern Hemisphere, mainly their concentrations are observed in the Antarctic and in the Subantarctic region. They also live in southern Australia and South Africa, are found almost along the entire coastline of South America - from the Falkland Islands to the territory of Peru, near the equator they live on the Galapagos Islands.

Classification of the Penguin family (Spheniscidae)

The order Penguin-like (Sphenisciformes) includes the only modern family - Penguins, or Penguins (Spheniscidae), in which 6 genera and 18 species are distinguished (according to the datazone.birdlife.org database dated November 2018).

Genus Aptenodytes J. F. Miller, 1778 - Emperor penguins

• Aptenodytes forsteri R. Gray, 1844 – Emperor penguin
• Aptenodytes patagonicus F. Miller, 1778 - King penguin

Genus Eudyptes Vieillot, 1816 - Crested penguins

• Eudyptes chrysocome(J. R. Forster, 1781) - Crested penguin, rocky golden-haired penguin
• Eudyptes chrysolophus(J. F. von Brandt, 1837) - Golden-haired penguin
• Eudyptes moseleyi Mathews & Iredale, 1921 – Northern crested penguin
• Eudyptes pachyrhynchus R. Gray, 1845 - Thick-billed or Victoria penguin
• Eudyptes robustus Oliver, 1953 - Snare crested penguin
• Eudyptes schlegeli Finsch, 1876 – Schlegel's penguin
• Eudyptes sclateri Buller, 1888 - Great crested penguin

Genus Eudyptula Bonaparte, 1856 - Little penguins

• Eudyptula minor(J. R. Forster, 1781) - Little penguin

Genus Megadyptes Milne-Edwards, 1880 - Magnificent penguins

• Megadyptes antipodes(Hombron & Jacquinot, 1841) - Yellow-eyed penguin, or magnificent penguin

Genus Pygoscelis Wagler, 1832 - Antarctic penguins

• Pygoscelis adeliae(Hombron & Jacquinot, 1841) - Adélie Penguin
• Pygoscelis antarcticus(J. R. Forster, 1781) - Antarctic penguin
• Pygoscelis papua(J. R. Forster 1781) - gentoo penguin

Genus Spheniscus Brisson, 1760 - Spectacled penguins

• Spheniscus demersus(Linnaeus, 1758) - Spectacled penguin
• Spheniscus humboldti Meyen, 1834 - Humboldt penguin
• Spheniscus magellanicus(J. R. Forster, 1781) - Magellanic penguin
• spheniscus mendiculus Sundevall, 1871 - Galapagos penguin

Types of penguins, photos and names

The modern classification of penguins includes 6 genera and 19 species. Below are descriptions of several varieties:

• emperor penguin ( Aptenodytes forsteri)

this is the largest and heaviest penguin: the weight of the male reaches 40 kg with a body length of 117-130 cm, the females are somewhat smaller - with a height of 113-115 cm, they weigh an average of 32 kg. The plumage on the back of the birds is black, the belly is white, in the neck area there are characteristic spots of orange or bright yellow. Emperor penguins live on the coast of Antarctica.

• king penguin ( Aptenodytes patagonicus)

very similar to the emperor penguin, but differs from it in a more modest size and feather color. The size of the king penguin varies from 90 to 100 cm. The weight of the penguin is 9.3-18 kg. In adults, the back is dark gray, sometimes almost black, the abdomen is white, there are bright orange spots on the sides of the dark head and in the chest area. The habitats of this bird are the South Sandwich Islands, the islands of Tierra del Fuego, Crozet, Kerguelen, South Georgia, Macquarie, Heard, Prince Edward, the coastal waters of the Lusitania Bay.

• Adelie Penguin ( Pygoscelis adeliae)

medium sized bird. The length of the penguin is 65-75 cm, weight - about 6 kg. The back is black, the belly is white, 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 in appearance: this penguin has a spectacular bunch of golden feathers above the eyes. The body length varies between 64-76 cm, the maximum weight is a little over 5 kg. Golden-haired penguins live along the southern shores of the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic, are slightly less common in the northern part of Antarctica and Tierra del Fuego, and nest on other islands of the Subantarctic.

• gentoo penguin ( Pygoscelis papua)

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

• Magellanic Penguin ( Spheniscus magellanicus)

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

• Pygoscelis antarctica)

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

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

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

• little penguin ( Eudyptula minor)

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

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, an amazing profession has appeared - a penguin lifter, or a penguin flipper. This person helps the penguins roll over and assume the bird's normal upright position.