Encyclopedia of penguins: from small to imperial. Great crested penguins: description and photo Crested penguin

Although this penguin was called “big”, it cannot be called large.

And if you compare it with the emperor penguin, whose height is 120 cm and weight 30 kg, then it may even seem small. After all, this penguin is only 55 cm tall and weighs about 4 kilograms.

Apparently due to this discrepancy between the name and appearance This penguin is more often called the Snar golden-crested penguin. Another name is the crested Snar penguin. Both indicate that this species belongs to the Snar Islands archipelago. These penguins really only live here, in a small area whose area does not exceed 3.3 square kilometers.

But although the place is small, it has many advantages for its inhabitants. First of all, there are no predators here. Secondly, there are many bushes and trees under which penguins can build nests. An equally positive aspect is that the archipelago is a marine reserve, so there is virtually no human interference in the lives of the penguins. According to biologists, between thirty and thirty-three thousand pairs of penguins of this species nest in this small area.

Big penguin: an elegant combination of a black tailcoat with yellow eyebrows.

Distinctive feature big penguin are crests yellow color located above his eyes. Like other penguin species, its back, head, wings and tail are black and its belly is white. The Snar penguin has a fairly powerful beak, the base of which is white or pink. It is necessary to distinguish the Snar penguin from the Victoria penguin, since the former has black cheeks, while the latter has white feathers growing on them. Males and females are no different in appearance, except that males are slightly taller and heavier.

The behavior of these penguins is interesting to watch because it is very funny, even when they show aggression. For example, if a penguin notices an uninvited guest in its area, it spreads its wings wide, begins to stomp, and all this is accompanied by grumbling. In this way, the Snar penguin tries to scare the enemy. In some cases, he performs the same actions without sound, perhaps it seems to him that this makes him look even scarier.

And towards their partners, crested penguins are very polite. Having returned from feeding, they begin to bow to each other, the female is the first, and the male returns her bows. If the spouse was absent somewhere for a long time, then, having returned, he performs another ritual: he looks the female in the eyes, after which he bows his head and emits a loud cry, while stretching out his beak. The female responds by repeating all his actions. Apparently, this is how they recognize each other as spouses. And if the partners miss you very much, then they shorten the ceremony and blow the trumpet and bow at the same time.

Males, while courting their chosen one, stretch out to their full height, inflate their chests, and spread their wings, thereby trying to visually add to themselves overweight and centimeters. In their opinion, this is how they have a better chance of being liked by the female.

Listen to the voice of the big penguin

Your nests big penguins set up on the ground. To do this, they first dig a small hole and then line its bottom with small twigs. The female lays two eggs, and she does this with a break of 3-4 days. The first egg is noticeably smaller than the second. Both parents hatch them alternately. While one of them warms the clutch, the second brings him food. Penguin chicks are born after 32-35 days. However, one of the babies will unfortunately be destined to die due to unfavorable weather conditions.

The crested penguin (climber penguin, Eudyptes chrysocome) is a species of swimming bird in the genus Crested penguin; includes three subspecies: southern crested penguin (Eudyptes chrysocome chrysocome), eastern crested penguin (Eudyptes chrysocome filholi), northern crested penguin (Eudyptes chrysocome moseleyi). The southern subspecies is found in the Falkland Islands, on the coasts of Argentina and Chile; eastern - on the islands of Marion, Prince Edward, Crozet, Kerguelen, Heard, MacDonald, Macquarie, Campbell and the Antipodes Islands; northern - on the islands of Tristan da Cunha, Saint-Paul and the Amsterdam Islands.

This is a rather small penguin: height 55-62 cm, weight 2-3 kg. The coloring is common for penguins: blue-black back and white belly. The chicks are black and gray at the back and white at the front. On the head of adult birds there are narrow yellow “eyebrows” with tassels, which are especially long and shaggy in the birds of the Tristan da Cunha islands. The eyes are reddish, the short convex beak is red-brown. The paws are pink, short, located behind the body, closer to the back. The plumage is waterproof, the feathers are 2.9 cm in length.

Crested penguins usually form large colonies using rock ledges, lava plateaus, and coarse rocky coastal slopes; often in the vicinity of albatrosses. On islands with a developed soil layer, they dig nesting niches and real burrows, usually under high hummocks formed by perennial grasses. The nests are lined with pebbles, grass, and small bones. Usually one nest is used for several years.

Crested penguins need fresh water, therefore they often nest near fresh water bodies and springs. Reproduction begins in September-October in the north, in November-December in the south of the range. Crested penguins are monogamous. Pairs are formed on long years. Usually the female lays two, rarely three eggs with a break of 4-5 days. The first egg weighs about 80 g, the second about 10 g. Usually only one chick hatches. In populations of northern and eastern crested penguins, two chicks in a brood practically never occur. In southern crested penguins, both chicks can survive under favorable conditions. Having laid an egg, the female passes it to the male, who hides it in a fold on his stomach and does not part with it throughout the incubation period, which lasts 4 months. Having reached 10 weeks of age, the young molt and become similar to adults.

Rock climbing penguins feed on krill, other crustaceans, small fish. During the incubation of eggs, the male does not leave the land; sometimes he is replaced by a female, sometimes he incubates throughout the incubation period. It also warms newborns, and if the female does not appear on time with a portion of food, the male feeds the chick with “penguin” milk, which is formed as a result of digestion of food.

Crested penguins are rarely seen alone. Their colonies are numerous. Despite its small size, crested penguins aggressive. Birds behave noisily, making loud calls. At the end of summer, crested penguins leave the colony and spend 3-5 months at sea, gaining fat.

Penguins attract tourists to the Falkland Islands and are the main attraction of the islands. Uncontrolled fishing deprives penguins of food; another factor limiting population growth is water pollution with oil and its waste. On some islands, crested penguins suffer from pigs, dogs, and foxes brought by humans. The lifespan of crested penguins is from 10 to 25 years.

Penguins (Spheniscidae) belong to the family of flightless seabirds, this is the only family in the order Penguinidae. It has 18 species, all of them beautiful and unusual in their own way. For example, the crested penguin of Antarctica is truly a miracle created by nature. After all, nature is the most talented sculptor and artist who breathes life into her creations!

Great crested penguin (Fudyptes sclateri) - very interesting creature. The name "penguin" comes from the Welsh "pen", which means "head", and from the word "gwyn", translated - "white". Adding these two words, we get “penguin”, for the sake of sweetness the letter “e” was changed to “i”. Although there is another version of the origin of this name. The sailors nicknamed the funny tumblers the word “pinguis”, translated from Latin as “fat”. This nickname is quite consistent with their physique.

Crested penguin: description

These clumsy creatures are relatively small in size. The body length of a penguin is on average 60-65 cm, the weight of birds is about 2.5-3.5 kg. But it should be noted that before molting, fat cats gain much more, sometimes up to 6.5-7 kg. Males can be visually distinguished from females even from a distance by their significantly larger size.

Head, top part The throats and cheeks of penguins are black. Two yellowish tufts of feathers, starting from the nostrils, extend through the dark red eyes and run along the top of the head. Thanks to their crests, they are called “crested penguins”; these beauties differ from other species in their ability to move their feather decoration. The top of the body is black, tints blue, the bottom is contrastingly white. The wing fins are bluish-black with a white border along the edges. The beak is thin and rather long, brownish in color, closer to orange.

Where do great crested penguins live in the wild?

Cute crested penguins are found in nature near New Zealand and Australia. They prefer to make their nests in the Antipodes, Auckland and Campbell. During winter months they do not leave the cold waters of Antarctica.

They nest in large colonies with other species of crested penguins. The islands favored by land birds are rocky, with many caves in the rocks suitable for building nests for penguins. It is in such caves that future feathered parents carefully construct places for hatching their offspring.

Reproduction

As previously written, crested penguins breed in large colonies. The males come first to the place where they plan to build a nesting site (a flat area of ​​rocks no higher than 65-70 m above sea level), and the females join them about two weeks later. During the reunion, fights begin between the males, which is how the beginning of the mating season is celebrated annually in the penguin kingdom.

When passions subside, married couples begin building a nest. First, the female, having selected a place, scoops out debris from it with her paws. The male is assigned “male” hard work, he brings material consisting of stones, grass and dirt. From all this, the future father of the family builds a nest.

At the beginning of October, egg laying begins, which lasts 3-4 days. Mother penguin lays two eggs: one small, the other large. During laying, the female does not eat anything. When the eggs are already in the nest, incubation begins for 35 days. In 98 percent of cases, the first egg disappears, and the remaining second one hatches.

After sitting on the eggs for 2-3 days, future mom leaves to look for food, the male remains on duty in the nest, all responsibility falls on him. For 3-4 weeks, the caring father does not eat anything; he cannot leave the nest, otherwise the eggs will freeze. So the poor guy has to fast, waiting for the female to return. During this time, the handsome crested man loses a lot of weight; if his wife does not return on time, he may die of hunger.

After this period, if the female’s trip ends successfully, she returns to her husband and the hatched chick (very rarely there are two chicks). The male leaves the family and goes looking for food to gain back the lost weight. The crested mother penguin feeds her babies by regurgitating food, warms them and takes care of them. In February, the full-fledged, grown-up babies leave the shelter in which they were born.

Shedding

A very interesting moment in the life of penguins is molting; this phenomenon is very protracted, and they prepare for it already in February. After the chicks leave the nest, the adult birds part and go to the sea to fatten up before molting for a whole month. After this period, families get together again, this leads to mating games. At this time, the real molt begins, which lasts 28 days. It is with penguins that during molting they are inseparable and spend all the time near the nest. In mid-April, feather renewal is completed, and crested penguins go back to sea.

How do they talk?

Penguins are birds, although they are land birds. These fatties can sing, especially during the period of courtship with a female, if, of course, these mating “serenades” can be called songs. The penguin's voice is more like a cry. Their mating games accompanied by low sounds that are repeated evenly. Black and white singers “sing” in this way only during the day; at night, their screams can never be heard.

How do they fight?

Male penguins, like all males, sometimes like to get into fights. Most often this happens because of females or when it is necessary to protect the nest from uninvited guests. Aggressive rivals stretch their head vertically with the crest raised militantly and swing it from side to side. Before the start of the fight, the males begin to “trumpet”, while bowing and twitching their shoulders.

During a fight, penguins tilt their heads with a grunt, hitting each other with their beaks and wing fins. Sometimes even bites are used if the fighters get too carried away in the battle.

A very crested penguin, the photo confirms this, because not all nature lovers can afford to see these creatures in natural environment a habitat. There is scientific evidence that over the past 45 years, the number of penguins has decreased by almost half. This species is listed in the Red Book!

IUCN 3.1 Vulnerable:

Climbing penguin (crested)(lat. Eudyptes chrysocome listen)) is a bird of the penguin family.

Description

Penguin (length 55-62 cm, weight from 2 to 3 kg (average 2.3 - 2.7 kg), with narrow yellow “eyebrows" ending in tassels. Distributed on the islands of the Subantarctic, Tasmania and Tierra del Fuego. And also lives on the mainland coast South America. These are the most northern of all penguins inhabiting the subantarctic zone.

Climbers' paws are short, located behind the body, closer to the back. The plumage is waterproof, the feathers are 2.9 cm long, the color is white below and bluish-black above. On the head there are bright yellow feathers growing from the eyebrows in all directions, on the top of the head there are black feathers. The wings are strong, narrow, and look like flippers. The eyes are tiny.

Spreading

The population size is about 3.5 million pairs and is considered stable.

Lifestyle

Climbers usually form very large colonies, often using rock ledges, lava plateaus, and coarse rocky coastal slopes. On islands with a developed soil layer, they dig nesting niches and real burrows, usually under high hummocks formed by perennial grasses. The nests are lined with pebbles, grass, and small bones.

Climbing penguins feed on krill and other crustaceans. They find their food during their daytime swim at sea.

Climbing penguins are social birds and are rarely seen alone. Their colonies are very numerous and, as a result, very aggressive. Birds behave noisily, emitting loud calls, which they use to call partners or announce that the territory is occupied. Another gesture - shaking the yellow-feathered head - also serves to attract attention. When resting, penguins hide their heads under their wings. At the end of summer, rock climbing penguins leave the colony and spend 3-5 months at sea fattening up. Their wings resemble flippers and are good for swimming, but are not adapted for flight. Climbing penguins live on coastal cliffs, sticking to the bushes tall grass where they dig holes and make nests. They attract a lot of tourists to the Falklands and are the main attraction of the islands. Uncontrolled fishing deprives penguins of food; another factor limiting population growth is water pollution with oil and its waste.

The lifespan of rock climbing penguins is 10 years.

Reproduction

Climbers begin breeding in September-October in the north, and in November-December in the south of the range. Partners call each other with a characteristic cry, signaling their readiness to mate. Pairs are formed for many years. There are sometimes 3 eggs in a clutch. And the male incubates them. During incubation, it does not leave the land; sometimes the female replaces it. It also warms newborns, and if the female does not appear on time with a portion of food, the male feeds the chick with “penguin” milk, which is formed as a result of digestion of food. The first egg is 20-50% smaller than subsequent ones, it usually dies, although if it finds itself in favorable conditions, it hatches into a full-fledged penguin. Having laid an egg, the female passes it to the male, who hides it in a fold on his stomach and does not part with it throughout the incubation period, which lasts 4 months. The downy outfit is black and gray, with a white belly. Having reached 10 weeks of age, the young molt and become similar to adults. On some islands, crested penguins suffer from pigs, dogs, and foxes brought by humans.

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Notes

An excerpt characterizing the Crested Penguin

The arriving Dron confirmed Dunyasha’s words: the men came on the orders of the princess.
“Yes, I never called them,” said the princess. “You probably didn’t convey it to them correctly.” I just told you to give them the bread.
The drone sighed without answering.
“If you order, they will leave,” he said.
“No, no, I’ll go to them,” said Princess Marya
Despite the dissuading of Dunyasha and the nanny, Princess Marya went out onto the porch. Dron, Dunyasha, the nanny and Mikhail Ivanovich followed her. “They probably think that I am offering them bread so that they will remain in their places, and I will leave myself, abandoning them to the mercy of the French,” thought Princess Marya. – I will promise them a month in an apartment near Moscow; I’m sure Andre would have done even more in my place,” she thought, approaching the crowd standing in the pasture near the barn in the twilight.
The crowd, crowded, began to stir, and their hats quickly came off. Princess Marya, with her eyes downcast and her feet tangling in her dress, came close to them. So many different old and young eyes were fixed on her and there were so many different faces that Princess Marya did not see a single face and, feeling the need to suddenly talk to everyone, did not know what to do. But again the consciousness that she was the representative of her father and brother gave her strength, and she boldly began her speech.
“I’m very glad that you came,” Princess Marya began, without raising her eyes and feeling how quickly and strongly her heart was beating. “Dronushka told me that you were ruined by the war.” This is our common grief, and I will not spare anything to help you. I’m going myself, because it’s already dangerous here and the enemy is close... because... I give you everything, my friends, and I ask you to take everything, all our bread, so that you don’t have any need. And if they told you that I am giving you bread so that you can stay here, then this is not true. On the contrary, I ask you to leave with all your property to our Moscow region, and there I take it upon myself and promise you that you will not be in need. They will give you houses and bread. - The princess stopped. Only sighs were heard in the crowd.
“I’m not doing this on my own,” the princess continued, “I’m doing this in the name of my late father, who was a good master to you, and for my brother and his son.”
She stopped again. No one interrupted her silence.
- Our grief is common, and we will divide everything in half. “Everything that is mine is yours,” she said, looking around at the faces standing in front of her.
All eyes looked at her with the same expression, the meaning of which she could not understand. Whether it was curiosity, devotion, gratitude, or fear and distrust, the expression on all faces was the same.
“Many people are pleased with your mercy, but we don’t have to take the master’s bread,” said a voice from behind.
- Why not? - said the princess.
No one answered, and Princess Marya, looking around the crowd, noticed that now all the eyes she met immediately dropped.
- Why don’t you want to? – she asked again.
Nobody answered.
Princess Marya felt heavy from this silence; she tried to catch someone's gaze.
- Why don’t you talk? - the princess turned to the old man, who, leaning on a stick, stood in front of her. - Tell me if you think anything else is needed. “I’ll do everything,” she said, catching his gaze. But he, as if angry at this, lowered his head completely and said:
- Why agree, we don’t need bread.
- Well, should we give it all up? Do not agree. We don’t agree... We don’t agree. We feel sorry for you, but we do not agree. Go on your own, alone...” was heard in the crowd from different directions. And again the same expression appeared on all the faces of this crowd, and now it was probably no longer an expression of curiosity and gratitude, but an expression of embittered determination.
“You didn’t understand, right,” said Princess Marya with a sad smile. - Why don’t you want to go? I promise to house you and feed you. And here the enemy will ruin you...

There are about 18 species of penguins, and each one is unique. One lives where there is ice and snow, and the other lives in hot latitudes, having its own characteristics. One is very tiny, weighing no more than a kilogram, and the other is a real giant weighing 40 kg and tall more than a meter. The characters and preferences of these birds are also completely different. Prostozoo lifts the curtain on the diversity of penguin species.

Blue penguin

The blue penguin is also called the small one, because it is the smallest and at the same time one of the most numerous. It is also called the elf penguin, possibly due to the blue tint of its back. Little penguins chose their habitat New Zealand and the coast of South Australia.

The height of this little penguin ranges from 40 centimeters. The baby weighs about one kilogram. Little penguins build their nests in caves or crevices. They love to organize penguin parades: emerging from the water at sunset, small penguins form groups of 10-40 and march in formation to their nests, shouting to their relatives and children. Blue penguins are very faithful - with the chosen partner they can stay together for the rest of their lives.

It is also called the northern little penguin, as it is the most famous subspecies of the little penguin. Differs from other species by white stripes at both ends of the wings.

White-winged penguins live in the Canterbury region of New Zealand. They are mainly active at night, unlike other penguin species. Everyone goes out to sea to hunt together, but only when it gets completely dark. In search of food, they can swim from the coast to a distance of up to 75 kilometers.

Source: nzbirdsonline.org.nz

Crested penguin

Also rock, rock or Rockhopper penguin. This is the “rock jumping penguin”, because its favorite way to enter the water is to jump into it from a cliff with a “soldier”, while other penguins prefer to dive.

This proud handsome man lives on most islands temperate zone Southern Ocean. His head is decorated with beautiful yellow feathers. But the rock penguin has a scandalous temper - if you make him angry, he will make loud noise and even attack.

Source: megasite.ucoz.es

This is the most famous and uniquely colored species of penguin. It received its name in honor of the wife of the explorer Dumont-D'Urville.

The Adelie penguin builds its nest from pebbles, which it can steal from unwary neighbors. Settles on the coast of Antarctica and nearby islands.

In winter, Adélie penguins live on floating ice floes 700 kilometers from the coast, and in the polar summer they nest on islands near Antarctica. At the beginning of nesting, the air temperature can reach -40°C.

Source: http://penguins2009.narod.ru/

Chinstrap or south polar penguin

A relative of the Adelie penguins. It is very small compared to other species - the number of individuals reaches 7.5 thousand pairs. Distinctive feature Antarctic penguin - a black stripe along the neck from ear to ear and a black cap on the head.

They are wonderful swimmers, diving to depths of up to 250 meters, and also swim 1000 kilometers into the sea. Habitat: Antarctic and subantarctic islands.

Source: http://pingvins.com/

Galapagos penguin

A distinctive feature of Galapagos penguins is their habitat. And they live on warm Galapagos Islands, where the air temperature reaches 28°C and the water temperature 24°C. This is the only penguin species that lives in the tropics.

These penguins have a black head, and a white stripe runs from eye to eye down the neck. The bottom of the beak and the skin around the eyes are pink-yellow. There are very few Galapagos penguins - about 6,000 pairs. Unlike other species, this penguin has many enemies due to its small stature and habitat.

Source: http://www.awaytravel.ru/

The golden-haired or golden-haired penguin is similar to the crested penguin, but the golden-haired penguin has more yellow feathers on its head. English name This species is translated as a dandy penguin. Their habitat is very extensive and numbers about 200 places.

Interestingly, the body weight of an adult penguin changes almost twice as different time year and depending on the periods of molting and reproduction. Colonies of the golden-haired penguin are truly huge - up to 2.5 million birds. This is the most numerous species– more than 11.5 million pairs.