Habitats of various types of penguins. Why do penguins live in Antarctica? What continent do penguins live on?

When it comes to penguins - these flightless seabirds - the imagination usually draws the white expanses of Antarctica and the icy waters of the ocean. However, the continent at the south pole is not the only habitat for these pretty birds. About eighteen species settled in different parts southern hemisphere of the planet. The most famous among them is the imperial - the largest in the family.

It grows up to 110-120 cm. The smallest is the little penguin. Compared to the imperial one, it is just a dwarf with a height of 30-45 cm. In prehistoric times, there were about 40 more species that are now extinct.

To meet waterfowl black and white birds, it is not necessary to go on a polar expedition. Check yourself if you know where penguins live and what they are like, why they are not afraid of polar bears and who is the main enemy of flightless birds.

In Antarctica and nearby islands live emperor penguin And Adele. The ocean is like a dining room. Although these birds are excellent swimmers, feeding on fish and crustaceans in coastal waters, they do not swim far. Being social creatures, they sometimes gather in huge colonies, some of which number about tens of thousands of individuals. IN big group easier to survive and raise offspring.

Home for penguins, except for Antarctica, are:

• New Zealand;
• Australia (south);
• South America (west coast);
• southern Africa;
• Galapagos Islands, located, by the way, closer to the equator.

It is unlikely that you will ever get to Kerguelen, Macquarie, Heard, or the South Sandwich Islands to see king penguin . The most accessible place for observation is the Tierra del Fuego archipelago. There you will meet golden-domed And magellanic penguins.

Falkland Islands - Territory gentoo penguin.

Galapagos is the northernmost point of the range, where the species of the same name lives.

Once in Tasmania or on the South American coast, you can meet crested penguin. It also lives on the islands of the Subantarctic. The species got its name due to the bright yellow feathers resembling bushy eyebrows. This feature distinguishes it from other members of the family.

South Australia and New Zealand are suitable for observing little penguin. In addition to him, you can also meet him in the area. white-winged relative. South New Zealand sheltered Victoria penguin.

Africa is traditionally associated with deserts and heat. However, from the south, it is bent around by the cold Bengal current, thanks to which spectacled penguins. They are also called donkey because of the characteristic cry, black-footed or African.

When wondering where penguins live, people often confuse the names of the regions. Without hesitation, they say that these birds live in the Arktitka. However, this area is adjacent to North Pole and includes the coastal zone North America, Eurasia, waters of the Arctic Ocean. If you suddenly become interested in ornithology and decide to watch amazing birds in nature, don't look for them in the Arctic!

Some people are easily confused by the question of whether polar bears eat penguins. The answer is simple - no. Polar bears live in the Arctic; they are common at the opposite pole of the Earth. Northern bear and emperor penguin never in wild nature have never met and are unaware of each other's existence. The natural enemies of black and white birds in Antarctica and other regions are leopard seals, lions and fur seals, killer whales and sharks that lie in wait for prey in the ocean depths. On land, the brown skua and some gulls pose the greatest danger to pups. But polar bears hunt marine animals - seals, walruses, sea ​​hares at home in the Arctic.

After the release of the cartoon "Penguins of Madagascar", users began to wonder if cold-loving birds really live on this island? In Madagascar, located to the east of African continent no penguins. They were sent there by the imagination of DreamWorks animators, and even then as adventurers, not natives.

In the Soviet-Japanese cartoon "The Adventures of Lolo the Penguin", which takes place in Antarctica, the characters meet king penguins. However, you already know that only the emperor penguin and Adelie live there.

Extinction Threat

It is typical for a person to first thoughtlessly destroy, and then try to save the rest. Once upon a time, penguins were massively killed for the sake of subcutaneous fat, eggs were collected. Now, although the hunt has ceased, new dangers have arisen. Due to human activity, where penguins live, the habitat of these amazing birds is being reduced, and the balance of the ecosystem is disturbed. Feathered fish hunters have to compete with fishing boats. Penguins suffer from oil spills. As a result of the negative influence of civilization, three species (crested, magnificent, Galapagos) were recognized as endangered at the beginning of our century. Seven more species are believed to be endangered. Only the inhabitants of Antarctica, as well as the royal, are out of danger. Their numbers have even increased due to the reduction in the population of baleen whales due to active hunting for them.

In the northern hemisphere, penguins can only be seen in the zoo, and only here do polar bears become their neighbors. In captivity, the birds create the appropriate conditions for life. On the one hand, due to the absence natural enemies they are able to live to their maximum age. On the other hand, zoos carry a different kind of danger - a fungal infection that affects the respiratory system. To protect the penguins from this scourge, they are kept behind glass. Only with careful observance of all conditions of detention that only professionals can provide, it is possible to guarantee long life penguin in captivity.

A poem to remember

If, after reading everything, you still cannot remember where polar bears live and where penguins live, read this short rhyme:

This is the continent of Antarctica.

There are two types of penguins here.

The largest is the imperial

He hunts fish expertly.

Others, smaller - Adele,

What black tailcoats put on.

But if you are very brave,

White bears dream of you -

Then you are in the north, in the Arctic,

Get to know them in practice.

Remember - polar bears and penguins live in opposite hemispheres of the Earth!

Video about where penguins live

22.09.2017 08:49 1299

Penguins are the symbol of Antarctica. They inhabited this continent since ancient times, when it was not covered with ice. Gradually, the climate on the planet changed. The location of the continents was not the same as now, and Antarctica gradually approached the South Pole, the place where it is now. Many animals of that time died out unable to withstand the onset of cold. But the penguins were able to adapt to new climatic conditions. A thick layer of fat, about 2-3 cm, helps them keep warm in a harsh climate. Penguins feed on fish and small crustaceans. Their wings turned out to be too weak for flight, but they help to swim perfectly in order to get food.

The largest penguins are the king and emperor. They inhabit the shores of Antarctica and the islands closest to it. These unusual birds like to gather in colonies, original flocks. From all sides their bird voices are heard along the shore.

However, penguins live not only in Antarctica. They inhabit the very south of Africa, the western part South America, the coast of New Zealand and the South coast of Australia. Penguins like the cool, so cold currents flow in their habitats outside of Antarctica.

Spectacled penguins live in southern Africa, near the Cape of Good Hope. In the very south of Chile, in the region of Patagonia, Magellanic penguins live. They got their name in honor of the great navigator Ferdinand Magellan, who discovered their habitats. The Humboldt penguin lives in western South America. He builds his nests on rocky shores, places where the cold Peruvian Current. A large crested penguin lives off the coast of Australia. Unlike other penguin species, it can move its feathers. Well, the Galapagos penguin lives farthest from Antarctica. Its habitat is the Galapagos Islands. They are not far from the equator and belong to the state of Ecuador. The air temperature on the islands is from 20 to 30 degrees!

Penguins are members of the flightless bird family. These creatures are famous for their unique abilities to swimming and diving.

Penguins live mainly in the Southern Hemisphere. They are located in the western part of Antarctica and have been the full owners of these territories for many years. Penguins can rarely be found in areas that extend beyond their nesting areas.

1. The penguin spends 75% of his life splashing in the waters of the seas and oceans. Also amazing is the speed that they are able to develop when hunting for fish, namely up to 35 km / h.

2. Most varieties of penguins live in colonies that provide them with reliable security. Such colonies number more than a thousand birds.

3. Most major representative penguin-emperor penguin. His height exceeds 115 cm in height.

4. Penguins are able to remove excess salt from the body. Given that penguins eat only seafood, their body contains a lot of salt, which must be disposed of. It is the supraorbital gland that allows you to filter the salt in the penguin's blood with the help of sneezing.

The color of the penguins in the form of a tuxedo is due to their ability to disguise themselves in the water from predators. The black back perfectly merges with the sea surface, and the white belly can be mistaken for the water surface, which is illuminated by sunlight.

life span of penguins

Each type of penguin has its own lifespan. So, the emperor penguin is able to live up to 25 years, while his brother Adelie lives no more than 10 years.

Sexual activity in these birds occurs at the age of 3-5 years. Birds often incubate one (rarely two) eggs. A small penguin is born from it, which is in danger from the first days of its life.

The first twelve months of life are a real struggle for survival. A variety of causes can lead to death, namely: predators (for example, leopard seals, fur seals and killer whales), lack of food, insufficient fat stores in dangerous periods. Thus, not all birds survive to maturity.

Many researchers have noticed that the life expectancy of penguins in captivity is much higher than in freedom. This is primarily due to the fact that birds are not threatened by natural threats.

Despite a common misconception, penguins are not afraid of polar bears, the fact is that they live at different poles of the planet (penguins in the south, and bears in the north) and never see each other

Where do penguins live?

22.09.2017 08:49578

Penguins are the symbol of Antarctica. They inhabited this continent since ancient times, when it was not covered with ice. Gradually, the climate on the planet changed. The location of the continents was not the same as now, and Antarctica gradually approached the South Pole, the place where it is now. Many animals of that time died out unable to withstand the onset of cold. But the penguins were able to adapt to new climatic conditions. A thick layer of fat, about 2-3 cm, helps them keep warm in a harsh climate. Penguins feed on fish and small crustaceans. Their wings turned out to be too weak for flight, but they help to swim perfectly in order to get food.

The largest penguins are the king and emperor. They inhabit the shores of Antarctica and the islands closest to it. These unusual birds like to gather in colonies, original flocks. From all sides their bird voices are heard along the shore.

However, penguins live not only in Antarctica.

They inhabit the very south of Africa, the western part of South America, the coasts of New Zealand and the southern coast of Australia. Penguins like the cool, so cold currents flow in their habitats outside of Antarctica.

Spectacled penguins live in southern Africa, near the Cape of Good Hope. In the very south of Chile, in the region of Patagonia, Magellanic penguins live. They got their name in honor of the great navigator Ferdinand Magellan, who discovered their habitats. The Humboldt penguin lives in western South America. It builds its nests on rocky shores where the cold Peruvian current passes. A large crested penguin lives off the coast of Australia. Unlike other penguin species, it can move its feathers. Well, the Galapagos penguin lives farthest from Antarctica. Its habitat is the Galapagos Islands. They are not far from the equator and belong to the state of Ecuador. The air temperature on the islands is from 20 to 30 degrees!

Many people believe that this strange bird lives wherever it is cold: near the North Pole, v South Pole, and so on. But penguins are found only in the Southern Hemisphere. They live in Antarctica (not in the Arctic!) and on the islands adjacent to the continent. They can also be found in more northern regions, such as Peru or southern Brazil, South West Africa, New Zealand and southern Australia.

Without a doubt, the penguin gained fame due to its comic resemblance to humans. Penguins stand upright on their flat feet. Often they, like soldiers, line up in orderly rows. Their gait seems to us so majestic and important that it is hard not to laugh. Their plumage, consisting of small, scale-like feathers, covers the entire body.

It resembles a men's evening dress, consisting of a tailcoat and a white shirt.

The penguin, which existed in prehistoric times, was almost two meters tall. You can imagine what an impression such a penguin would make today! Now there are 17 varieties of penguins, the largest of which is the king penguin, reaching 1 meter in height and about 36 kilograms of weight.

Once upon a time, in time immemorial, the penguin could fly as well as any other bird. But by now, only short processes remained from the wings, unsuitable for flying. How did it happen? One of the reasons, oddly enough, is that the penguin had few, if not no, enemies. He lived in such remote Antarctic regions that there was practically no one to attack him. Therefore, he could safely spend time on land or on water.

As the generations of penguins that did not use their wings changed, those wings became smaller and stiffer until they were no longer airworthy. But on the other hand, penguins have become excellent swimmers and divers, and these wings have become excellent fins! The penguins also have a thick fat layer that protects them from the terrible cold in their habitats.

Man is currently hunting penguins for their fat, and legislation may need to be passed to protect them from extirpation.

Origin, habitat and diet of penguins

Ancestors of modern penguins

The homeland of both ancient and modern penguins is only the southern hemisphere.

Fossil species are known mainly from New Zealand, the southern part of South America, and from the Antarctic Peninsula separated from it by the Drake Strait. There are also finds from southern parts Australia and Africa. All these areas fit into the modern area of ​​distribution of penguins. In our time, penguins are more widespread only in the east of the Pacific Ocean, where they nest in the Peruvian coast and even under the equator - on the Galapogos Islands.

The oldest known fossil remains of penguins date back no older than 45 million years, i.e. they begin to meet from the end of the Eocene period. Modern penguins are not small birds, but in the process of evolution they still shredded. The record holder is the Nordenskiöld penguin, who lived in the Eocene, named after the famous polar explorer. He was almost the height of a man and weighed about 120 kg. Some other ancient penguin species reached almost the same size.

Known fossil penguins were already quite similar to modern ones. It certainly took a long time for a whole order of birds to develop to this level of specialization. Moreover, distant great-ancestors knew how to fly. So, their origin is lost somewhere in the depths Cretaceous Mesozoic era, perhaps at least 100 million years ago.

Of the living birds, the tube-nosed ones are the closest to penguins, having perfectly mastered the aquatic environment. Therefore, it is almost certain that penguins and tube-nosed birds are descended from a common flying ancestor, or that penguins are descended from ancient tube-nosed birds. The last conclusion, it would seem, seems generally unbelievable, if we keep in mind the external appearance of birds from these dissimilar groups. Indeed, what is in common between flying albatrosses and petrels, on the one hand, and penguins who cannot fly at all, on the other? However, the penguin and tube-nosed orders are closely related.

Photo: kevin ryder

Many events from the history of navigation and exploration of the Southern Ocean are associated with penguins, and the names of some species are of romantic origin. For example, the well-known American scientist G. Simpson devoted many pages to this topic in his book "Penguins". By the way, the penguins did not immediately receive their current name. That was the original name of the wingless auk, a bird from the auk family that lived until the middle of the 19th century in the North Atlantic. Razorbill had a completely "penguin" color - white chest and belly, dark back and head. On land, she also behaved like a penguin, i.e. almost vertical. The auk could not fly, and its wings looked like small flippers. Pin-wing, i.e. hairpin-wing - such, according to one version, is the appearance of the name penguin. And in the scientific literature, the wingless auk appears under the "penguin" name - Pinguinus impennis.

As G. Simpson writes, the first Europeans who saw real southern penguins, were the sailors of the expeditions of Vasco da Gama - in 1497. off the southern coast of Africa, and Magellan - in 1520. at the south east coast South America. In the descriptions of these voyages, penguins have not yet appeared under modern name. Strange, but most often unusual birds were compared with geese. Only at the end of the XVI century. southern birds began to be called penguins and transferred this name to the southern hemisphere, apparently, by English sailors who were familiar with the wingless auk. To avoid confusion, the famous French naturalist Buffon introduced in the 18th century.

for southern birds, the name is manshot, i.e. clumsy. But it did not become widespread, and for a long time a word similar in sound to ours has been fixed in most languages. And there is no one else to confuse them with, because the wingless auk died out in the middle of the 19th century.

Types of penguins

Despite the exceptional popularity of penguins, most of their types are not distinguished by sailors. But in fairness, it should be noted that this is a very difficult matter.

The largest penguin is the emperor, or Forster. It lives only on the coast of Antarctica and in the waters immediately adjacent to it. This penguin is named after D. Forster, a naturalist on the round-the-world expedition of Captain D. Cook. In the temperate zone, it is replaced by the closely related king penguin, which breeds on scattered islands in the Southern Ocean. The emperor penguin reaches 120 cm, the smaller king - a little less than 1 m. On the sides of the neck in both species stand out orange spots, which look like large quotation marks. In the king penguin, the front of the neck is also painted orange.

The gentoo penguin has a similar distribution to the king penguin. In addition, it breeds on the Antarctic Peninsula with adjacent islands. This is a medium-sized penguin, about 75 cm high. It is easy to distinguish it from other species by the white stripe that runs along the crown of the head from eye to eye. In our literature, it is mistakenly often called donkey. But the real name of the gentoo penguin is a zoological incident, because. penguins do not live in New Guinea. Under this name, it was described by the same D. Forster, whose name is the emperor penguin.

On the coast of Antarctica and in the area of ​​​​the Antarctic Peninsula, the most famous among penguins nests - the Adélie penguin, named after the beautiful wife of the head of the French Antarctic expedition, who conducted research in the 30s of the last century, D'Urville, after whom one of the seas washing Antarctica is named. Adele has a typical penguin coloration: dark coat and head, snow-white belly and chest. There is a noticeable white ring around the eyes. There are no other types of penguins similar to Adele.

The Antarctic penguin, which nests on the Antarctic islands and in the area of ​​the Antarctic Peninsula, also easily differs from other species. Unlike the Adélie penguin, he only has a dark cap on his head, from which a "dark" strap goes to his chin.

Photo: Jeremy Eades

The Galapagos, spectacled, or donkey, Magellanic and Humboldt, or Peruvian penguins are very similar in color. The Humboldt penguin, named after the eminent German geographer, breeds along the Peruvian coast as far south as approximately 38 degrees south latitude. In the coloration of its plumage, white horseshoe-shaped spots are striking, passing above the eye through the back of the head to the upper chest, as well as a dark flat intercepting the white chest and continuing along the sides of the body. In the southern regions of the Pacific coast of South America, it is replaced by the Magellanic penguin. But between 32 and 38 degrees S. sh. the ranges of these species overlap, i.e. both species are found together. The Magellanic penguin also lives in the temperate waters of South America from the Atlantic side and on the Falkland (Malvinas) Islands. The alternation of white and dark stripes in this species is such that two dark stripes intercept the chest, and not one, as in the Humboldt penguin.

The donkey penguin, which lives only in the region of the southern coast of Africa, looks like a Humboldt penguin. There is no one to confuse him with here, since other types of penguins are not found in the waters of Africa. And he was nicknamed the donkey for his loud and unpleasant cry. The Galapagos penguin looks like a Magellanic penguin, which, however, is inferior to it in size. He lives only on Galapagos Islands where there are no other penguin species.

The next related group of penguins consists of 6 species, and all have golden tufts of feathers sticking out of their heads that look like hair, giving these penguins, on the one hand, an exotic, and on the other, a strict look. the most famous of them is the crested, or "rock-jumping penguin". It breeds on most islands throughout the temperate zone of the Southern Ocean. The yellow feathers of the crested penguin begin near the nostrils and fan out very effectively behind the eyes. The name "jumping on the rocks" notices his manner of moving - pushing off with both legs at once. He jumps into the water from the shore as a "soldier", and does not dive like other penguins.

On islands temperate zone The golden-haired penguin lives in the Atlantic and Indian Ocean sectors of the Southern Ocean and in the Antarctic Peninsula. There are more yellow, or rather golden feathers on his head than the crested penguin. Their tufts start from the level of the middle of the eyes and as the hair falls behind the eyes to the back.

The Schlegel penguin has the same golden-haired hairstyle, the distribution of which is limited to Macquarie Island, located slightly south of the New Zealand Plateau.

it is easily distinguished by the white sides of its head. The remaining 3 species of this group live in the area of ​​New Zealand south of the Cook Strait. These are the Snare crested penguin, thick beak, or Victoria penguin and the big crested penguin. The first two species are indistinguishable from a distance. Their yellow feathers look like thick eyebrows, somewhat expanding at the back of the head, and in a large crested penguin, the "eyebrows" bristle up.

In the southern part of the New Zealand region, there is a magnificent, or yellow-eyed penguin. On his head, a yellow stripe runs through the crown from eye to eye. Yellowish dotted and the rest of the head.

All of the penguins listed above, except for the emperor and king, are of medium size - about 65-75 cm. Smaller - about 50 cm - only the Galapagos penguin. But he's not the smallest either. There are two more species, the height of which is only about 40 cm. These are blue, or small and white-winged penguins. The first lives around the main islands of New Zealand, on the Chatham Islands and off the southern coast of Australia, the second - only off the east coast of New Zealand. Compared to other penguins, they are outwardly inconspicuous - a white bottom, a bluish monochromatic top. Young birds in all penguin species have a less contrasting coloration.

Penguin habitats

Penguins are rare in open ocean away from the coast. True, there is one area where penguins are regularly found outside the coastal zone. Such an area is the western part of the Atlantic sector of the Antarctic with a large number of islands and archipelagos. Here are the largest colonies of penguins and in general these are the most penguin places on Earth. Penguins almost do not go beyond the nesting areas of distribution outlined above for each species. With this in mind, it is easier to recognize their species. But every rule has an exception. For example, in New Zealand they met the emperor penguin and Adélie, and in Australia - the king and Antarctic. Similar cases are known for most other species. But, probably, not all of them are connected with swims to foreign lands of wandering individuals prone to wandering. Occasionally, this is the result of "jokes" by sailors who transport penguins to unusual places. Near New Zealand, for example, the Magellanic penguin has already been twice observed, which would hardly dare to travel thousands of miles from America against the great current of the West winds.

But only penguins are almost settled, living on oceanic islands located at a great distance from the continents. They do not dare to travel long distances in an unknown ocean, but prefer the well-known surrounding waters of their native islands. Penguins nesting off the coasts of the mainland behave differently.

They are also born only to walk and swim, but regularly undertake long journeys along the coasts. And more easy to climb, as is the case with all animals, young birds. After all, adults have only a few months between two successive nestings. In Australia, for example, ringed juvenile little penguins have been found from nesting sites 500-1000 km away. For several hundred kilometers along Antarctica or ice, Antarctica can migrate from their colonies. types of penguins singles, as already mentioned, cross South ocean across. South American penguins also make long migrations along the coast. One Magellanic penguin was found here 3300 km from the banding site. This case is a record for the range of migrations for penguins in general.

The book of the famous ornithologist R. Lockley "Ocean Wanderers" describes an experiment when 5 Adele males, who turned out to be losers in family life, were delivered by plane for 3800 km.

After 10 months, two of them returned to their colony. On average, they had to overcome 13 km per day. If we assume that every day they spent half the time on rest and food, then their average speed was about 1 km/h. It seems a little, but it's a swim! Everything is here - perseverance, and aspiration, and fidelity to the house, and, of course, skill. Skill is the ability to aquatic environment. In terms of its vocational training to life in the water, penguins surpass, of course, all other water birds. They have reached the level of seals and dolphins in this.

Penguin food

Although all penguins are well adapted for spearfishing, it does not follow that they always get food easily. In this regard, very interesting information were obtained by the American researcher G. Kuymen and colleagues. They provide data on three king penguins from South Georgia, to which special sensors were attached. In the colony where the penguins were engaged in breeding chicks, one of them was absent for 4, the second for 6, and the third for 8 days. The first one made 1217 dives while at sea, the second - 488, the third - 890. You have to dive so much because only in 10% of cases you manage to catch prey. Approximately half of the dives were up to 50 m, the rest were deeper - over 100 and even 200 m. sea ​​turtles. The swimming speed is about 20-25 km / h, but if the penguins are in a hurry, they can reach speeds of 40 km / h. For the emperor penguin, even 45-58 km / h are indicated. Such very considerable speeds are characteristic of dolphins.

Fast-swimming penguins, like dolphins or fur seals, jump out of the water. And in the Antarctic, penguins fleeing from predators, having gained speed, easily jump out onto a high fast ice.

The food of penguins is plankton, fish and cephalopods. They extract it only in the sea and never use emissions. Among the penguins there are almost completely fish-eating species. These are the Galapagos and Magellanic penguins, as well as the Humboldt penguin. They feed on such massive schooling fish as anchovy, sardine, horse mackerel and the like. Fish also predominates in the food of the emperor and gentoo penguins, but they also catch a lot of squid, and for the Krolevsky, squids generally come first in the diet. The little penguin also feeds on fish and squid. Most of the other species are mainly planktivorous, with the massive euphausian crustacean krill occupying a special place in the diet at high latitudes. Adélie, chinstrap, crested and golden-haired penguins mainly live due to krill. In places with an abundance of krill, the emperor penguin does not refuse it, and for the Papuan it can become the basis of nutrition. The krill-eating species do not dive deeper than 70 m, but are more often limited to a depth of 20 m.

In each area, the basis of penguin nutrition is mass species food organisms. However, nesting even in mixed colonies different types diets are not the same, i.e. there are signs of food specialization. This is what recent research by the British ornithologist D. Croxall and colleagues in South Georgia and the South Shetland Islands has shown. The golden-haired penguin from South Georgia hunts in a zone up to 100 km, and the gentoo only up to 10 km from the coast. The former catches mainly small krill and fish, while the latter catches large krill and fish. In the South Shetland Islands, the golden-haired penguin produces small krill, fish and black-eyed, and the Atlantic penguin - large krill. According to the French scientists J. Mougins and J. Prevost, about 85% of the food eaten by all the birds of the Southern Ocean is accounted for by penguins. Nothing less than about 47 million tons, of which more than half is krill and other crustaceans and about a quarter is squid

Families arrangement

Penguins are spontaneous and sociable birds. They stay in the sea in groups and flocks, and during breeding they necessarily form colonies, sometimes reaching several hundred thousand and even millions of individuals. On Zavadovsky Island in the group of the South Sandwich Islands, for example, a colony of 10 million birds of the Antarctic penguin is known. You can imagine how grandiose this cluster of birds is. But smaller colonies are also impressive. Great crowding in such clusters is not the only inconvenience of life in crowded conditions. But the benefits of life together immeasurably more than inconvenience. This can be clearly seen from observations of the successful nesting of the Adélie penguin at Cape Crozet in Antarctica. In this colony, the penguins are not distributed evenly, but rather in separate groups. In groups of less than 20 pairs, 80-100% of eggs and chicks died. The most successful breeding was observed in groups consisting of 20-175 pairs, while it is interesting that on the periphery the death of eggs and chicks was 60-80%, and in the center of the groups - 40-60%. The death rate also increased in groups of more than 400 couples. In the latter case leading role played, of course, a large crowding of birds, and in small groups and on the periphery - predators. In general, nesting success in Adele is at the level of 40-50%.

Penguin Enemies

Good day, curious know-it-alls!

Today, to help parents and young students, we are preparing material for grade 1 on the world around us. Almost everyone who has been to the zoo has seen funny birds that do not know how to fly at all, but walk imposingly, waddling, or slide down ice slides right into the water. Guess who I'm talking about? Yes, today we are talking about penguins.

Does everyone know where penguins live, or maybe there are those who doubt at which pole they can be found, do they surf the waters of the Arctic Ocean day after day or gurgle around the coasts of Australia and Africa? Duck, in the Arctic or Antarctic, in the South or North? Let's figure it out!

Lesson plan:

Who are penguins and where can they be found?

So, we know that these are sea birds, they do not fly, but they swim excellently, and this, perhaps, is almost all that we know about these clumsy and amazing creatures with white belly and black back.

According to the great Internet, there are already 3 versions of the origin of the name of these inquisitive animals:

1. according to the first of them, the penguin is a follower of the white-winged auk, which died out in the 19th century, which outwardly was very similar to it, also could not fly, also clubfooted on land, it was the sailors who used to call it the penguin;
2. according to the second version, the name of the bird is associated with the translation from English as a hairpin wing, which again belonged to the appearance of the previously mentioned white-winged auk;
3. the third version translates penguin from Latin as "fat".

Be that as it may, today we associate only one bird with this word, in which scientists have about 18 species. And before there were at least 40! After all, penguin ancestors more than 60 million years ago (or maybe all 100 million, it is still unclear) lived in temperate climate at a time when their homeland Antarctica was not yet covered with a continuous layer of ice.

But centuries passed, the weather changed, and Antarctica shifted towards the South Pole, turning into one big ice floe. Many animals left, some died out, and only a few were able to adapt to the eternal cold. Among them are penguins.

Today, you can meet the penguin family throughout Antarctica, which covers Antarctica, which we have already mentioned, and the adjacent island territories of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. But do not confuse Antarctica with the Arctic, which is adjacent to the North Pole on the other, directly opposite, side of our Earth.

In the waters of the North Arctic Ocean penguins do not live, but there you can find seals and walruses, baleen whales and polar bears.

So, we figured out the poles: penguins live in the South, in Antarctica, where their largest concentration is. You can also see these diving athletes in New Zealand, on the southwestern side of the Pacific Ocean, they have "apartments" in Australia and South Africa, South America and Peru.

But this does not mean at all that penguins love to bask in the sun. They prefer coolness, because in the tropics they are only in those places where there are cold currents. They chose the warmest place only near the equator, on the Galapagos Islands in pacific ocean.

What are they?

All members of the penguin family swim and dive excellently, but slightly differ in appearance and place of residence. So,

• There are only 2 species left in Antarctica:

- imperial, the largest of all, reaching 1.22 m in height and 22-45 kg in weight, with bright orange cheeks.
It is also called the Forster bird in honor of its discoverer - the naturalist from the round-the-world trip of the well-known Captain Cook.

- Adele, the most common and famous, named by a French explorer in honor of his wife.
There is no other such penguin representative in nature similar to Adele.

• Close relatives of the emperor penguin, only a little shorter and weight and slightly brighter in color, the royal ones settled on the southern islands - Kerguelen in the Indian Ocean, South Georgia in the Atlantic, Tierra del Fuego, Macquarie in the Pacific Ocean.
  
• The place of residence of the Papuan, very similar to the royal, was South Georgia and the Kerguelen archipelago. This species is distinguished by a white stripe running along the crown from one eye to the other. Its name is a real zoological incident, because penguins do not live in the homeland of the Papuans in New Guinea!
  
• Crested, the most northern, with narrow yellow eyebrows, with tassels at the ends, fell in love with Tasmania and the shores of South America. He jumps on the rocks there, pushing off the rhinestone with both paws and falling into the water like a “soldier”. The severity of his appearance is given by yellow feathers, starting from the nostrils and puffing like a fan behind the eyes.
  
• The thick-billed representative, also called the Victoria penguin, outwardly similar to the yellow-browed crested one, preferred the south of New Zealand and the islands of Solander and Stewart for himself.
  
• In Chile and Peru, there are Humboldt penguins, named after the German geographer who found them. This species is distinguished by its horseshoe-shaped white spots under the eyes, running across the back of the head to the chest.
  
• To see a spectacled representative similar to Humboldt, also called donkey for his loud and unpleasant voice, you need to go to Namibia or South Africa.
  
• On the island of Juan Fernandez and near the Brazilian Rio de Janeiro, you can meet a Magellanic species, also similar to its two relatives - spectacled and Humboldt. He only has two dark stripes on his chest, not one.
  
• You will be able to communicate with the Galapagos species, inferior to the Magellanic one only in size, on the Galapagos islands of Fernandina and Isabela. He is there in the city alone, there are no other representatives on the islands.
  
• In Australia and the Snare Islands, you can meet the great crested penguin. He is always surprised, because his eyebrows always bristle up.
  
• Golden-haired, whose golden-yellow feathers descend from eye level all the way to the back, he settled in the Falkland Islands and southern Chile.
  
• The little penguin, the shortest of all in height - about 40 cm, is called blue because of the bluish solid top. It can be seen off the coast of South Australia.
  
• The white-winged species is also among the undersized and unremarkable, like the small one. It lives in Canterbury and western New Zealand.
  
• The magnificent, or also called yellow-eyed, penguin "built a house" on the Campbell archipelago and the islands of Macquarie and the Bounty. From one eye to the other, he has a yellow stripe.
  

All of the above species are about 65-75 cm tall, with the exception of the imperial and royal ones. The weight of the smallest bird, for example, a small blue one, starts from 1 kg, middle view weighs 3.5-4 kg.

How do penguins live?

These clumsy on land animals in the water are real tightrope walkers. Their streamlined body shape is simply designed to move where they can pick up speed at an average of 10 km / h. However, if they are in a hurry, they can accelerate to all 20-25 km / h, breaking all records for the time spent under water.

So, the imperial is able to stay up to 18-20 minutes, diving to a depth of 530 meters!

All this is helped by the addition of a “bodybuilder”: the penguin muscles are so highly developed that any bodybuilder will envy, because swimming in conditions of resistance of the water column requires very strong wings-fins.

These animals also jump high. They, like candles, jump out of the water one after another onto the shore up to 1.8 meters high. And who said that on land they are slow. Rolling from side to side, thereby the birds save energy, but when you need to run with all your paws, they can overcome 3-6 km in an hour! And they also know how to easily move down the ice slides on the go, even on the back, even lying on the abdomen. Try it, catch up!

A thick layer of subcutaneous fat (2-3 cm), as many as 3 layers of waterproof feathers, between which the air cushion retains heat, helps the penguins not to freeze. They throw off their "business tuxedos" once a year in the summer, updating a slightly worn feather suit.

And also, in order not to freeze, they cluster together, gathering in small groups: it’s warmer together! So that no one is offended from the edges, those basking in the group constantly move from the center to the edge, from the edge to the very center. In total, a friendly penguin family can number from tens of thousands to millions of birds in one settlement!

Their daily menu mainly consists of fish and crustaceans, which they swallow right under water without getting out on land, for which they make about 200 dives a day.

Penguins live for about 25 years if people do not interfere with them.

Today, three species are on the verge of extinction - crested, magnificent and Galapagos.

Among the main reasons why these birds are hunted are their eggs and subcutaneous fat from which the oil is extracted. Some populations are declining due to lack of food due to abrupt change climate.
Found funny video about penguins. look, smile)

Here they are, amazing penguins. What do you know about these birds? Share your knowledge in the comments)

Interesting lessons for you!

Penguin is flightless bird, which belongs to the penguin 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 like bones in structure. 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, 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.

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

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

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

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

Enemies of penguins in nature

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

What do penguins eat?

Penguins eat fish, crustaceans, plankton and small cephalopods. The bird enjoys eating krill, anchovies, 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 feed requirements. oral apparatus the bird works on the principle of a pump: through its beak, it sucks up 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 cold areas southern hemisphere, mainly their accumulations 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 transition 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 coasts indian ocean and the Atlantic, are slightly less common in the northern part of the Antarctic and on 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 orange-red tint. 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 top part paws white or light gray. Penguins live on the coast of South Australia, in Tasmania, New Zealand and on the adjacent islands - Stewart and Chatham.