Probably the most amazing birds on our planet are penguins. We will present you interesting facts about these cute creatures in this article. This is the only bird that swims beautifully, but cannot fly. In addition, the penguin can walk upright. This is a flightless bird belonging to the order Penguinidae.

Habitat

Vast areas, mainly in the cold regions of the Southern Hemisphere, are where penguins live. The largest populations are recorded in Antarctica. In addition, they feel quite comfortable in South Africa and southern Australia. Almost the entire coastline of South America is the territory where penguins live.

Name

The origin of the name of these birds has three versions. The first explains it by a combination of the words pen - “head” and gwyn - “white”. It once referred to the great auk (now extinct). Since these birds are similar in appearance, the name was transferred to the penguin.

According to the second version, the penguin got its name from the English word pinwing, which translates as “hairpin wing.” According to the third version, the name of the bird comes from the Latin pinguis, which means “fat.”

Types of penguins

Do you know how many species of penguins live on our planet? By modern classification, these birds are grouped into six genera and nineteen species. We will introduce you to some of them in this article.

Emperor penguin

The largest and heaviest bird: the weight of a male can reach 40 kg, and the body length is about 130 cm. The plumage on the back is black, the belly is white, and on the neck you can see characteristic spots of bright yellow or orange. Emperor penguins are native to Antarctica.

King Penguin

Outwardly, it is very similar to the imperial one, but is somewhat inferior in size: its body length is about 100 cm, and its weight does not exceed 18 kg. In addition, this species has a different color - the back is covered with dark gray, sometimes almost black feathers, the belly is white, and there are bright orange spots on the sides of the head and on the chest. These birds live in the coastal waters of the Gulf of Lusitania, on the Tierra del Fuego, South and Sandwich islands, Kerguelen and Crozet, Macquarie and South Georgia, Prince Edward and Heard.

Adelie Penguin

Medium sized bird. Its length does not exceed 75 cm, and its weight is 6 kg. Adele's back is black, her belly is white. A distinctive feature of this species is the white ring around the eyes. These birds live in Antarctica, as well as on the adjacent islands: Orkney and South Shetland.

Northern crested penguin

A species that is currently endangered. This is a small bird, about 55 cm long and weighing 3 kg. The back and wings are gray-black. The abdomen is white. Yellow eyebrows extend into tufts of bright yellow feathers located to the side of the eyes. On the penguin's head there is a black crest, which gives the species its name.

The main part of the population inhabits the islands of Inaccessible and Gough, Tristan da Cunha, which are located in the Atlantic Ocean.

Golden haired penguin

The body length of this penguin varies within 76 cm, weight - just over 5 kg. The color is typical of all penguins, but with one peculiarity: above the eyes there are unusual tufts of golden feathers. Golden-haired penguins have settled on the southern shores of the Indian Ocean, the Atlantic, and are slightly less common in the north of Antarctica, as well as on the islands of the Sub-Antarctic.

External features

On land, this unusual bird, which cannot fly, looks somewhat awkward due to the structural features of its limbs and body. Penguins have a streamlined body shape with well-developed muscles of the pectoral keel - often it makes up a quarter of the total mass of the bird.

The penguin's body is plump, slightly laterally compressed, covered with feathers. The head is not too large, located on a flexible and mobile, but short neck. The beak of these birds is strong and sharp.

Interesting facts about penguins are related to their structure. In the course of evolution and lifestyle, the penguin's wings have changed and turned into flippers: under water, they rotate in the shoulder joint like a screw. The legs are thick and short, with four toes that are connected by swimming membranes.

Unlike most birds, the penguin's legs are noticeably shifted back, which forces the bird to hold its body strictly vertical when on land. A short tail, which consists of twenty hard feathers, helps the penguin maintain balance: the bird leans on it if necessary.

Another interesting fact about penguins is that their skeleton is not made up of hollow tubular bones, which is usually typical for birds. Their bones are more similar in structure to those of marine mammals. For thermal insulation, penguins have a substantial reserve of fat, its layer reaches three centimeters.

The plumage of penguins is thick and dense: short, small feathers cover the bird's body like tiles, protecting it from getting wet in cold water.

Lifestyle

Penguins are underwater in search of food for quite a long time, diving three meters deep and covering distances of about thirty kilometers. It's amazing how fast penguins swim - it can reach 10 km per hour. Representatives of some species can dive to depths of up to 130 meters. When penguins do not enter the mating season and do not care for their offspring, they move away from the coast to quite long distances (up to 1000 km).

To speed up movement on land, the penguin lies on its belly and quickly slides across the snow or ice, pushing off with its limbs. This method of movement allows birds to reach speeds of up to 6 km/h. Under natural conditions, a penguin lives about twenty-five years. In captivity, with proper care, this figure increases to thirty.

What do penguins eat?

During one hunt, a penguin makes from 190 to 900 dives. The exact number depends on climatic conditions, the type of penguin, and food requirements. Interestingly, the bird’s mouthparts are designed like a pump: it sucks in small prey through its beak. During feeding, on average, birds swim about thirty kilometers and spend almost eighty minutes a day at a depth of more than three meters.

The basis of the penguins' diet is fish. But what do penguins eat (besides fish)? The bird happily eats squid, small octopuses and small shellfish. The cubs feed on semi-digested food, which their parents regurgitate from the stomach.

How do penguins sleep?

The answer to this question is of interest to many of our readers. Penguins sleep standing up, maintaining their body temperature during sleep. Interesting facts about penguins are also associated with this condition of birds. The time they spend sleeping directly depends on the air temperature - the lower the temperature, the shorter the sleep. Birds sleep longer during molting: during this period they eat little, and additional sleep allows them to reduce energy expenditure. In addition, penguins sleep while hatching eggs.

It turns out that not all penguins are cute and harmless creatures. For example, rock penguins are endowed with a rather aggressive disposition. They can attack any object they don't like.

Penguins do not need fresh water - they drink sea water because they have special glands that filter out salt.

During the mating season, expressing his tender feelings, the male spectacled penguin strokes his chosen one on the head with his wing.

Penguins' feet do not get cold because they have a minimal number of nerve endings.

Penguins (lat. spheniscclassae) are a family of flightless seabirds, the only one in the order Penguinidae. A total of eighteen species are included in the order Penguinidae. All representatives of this family swim and dive well. Penguins have ancient origins. Their habitat is limited to the Southern Hemisphere. Most penguin species live between 45° and 60° south latitude. Antarctica and nearby islands are where the largest number of these birds live.
The coloring of all individuals is almost uniform: the back is dark, the chest and belly are white. Some penguins have crests or colored feathers that complement their basic outfit. The average body length of a penguin ranges between 60 and 70 centimeters, and its weight is between 5 and 6 kilograms. True, there are also larger species.
They spend a good half or even three-quarters of their lives in water (which is facilitated by both the structure and shape of their body). These amazing birds feed on squid, fish, and small marine invertebrates. This food makes it possible to accumulate fat reserves, which penguins spend during the period of incubation or molting (during this time they do not feed).

The word "penguin" was coined much earlier than the birds themselves were discovered. Europeans used this “name” to call the great auk that lived on the shores of the North Atlantic. Confusion arose after the discovery of the true penguins. And even now the English word “penguin” means both penguins and those same great auks.

When Europeans first saw penguins, they mistook them for geese. These were sailors from Vasco da Gama's team. Having met an unusual bird, they thought that it was a special type of geese.

Penguins are the symbol of Antarctica. This is true, but only five species of penguins have adapted to living in such harsh living conditions. It should be remembered that the only aborigines - the indigenous inhabitants of Antarctica - are emperor penguins, who spend their entire lives in these parts. Other penguins leave Antarctica with the onset of autumn.

Penguins have a very special body structure, different from other birds. Their body shape is streamlined (which facilitates easy movement through the water). The penguin's sternum has a keel, which serves as a support for powerful muscles. Penguins need this for diving. All other flightless birds lack a keel. Penguins have dense bones (unlike other birds, which have long bones that make them easier to fly).

Penguins live in colonies. These settlements are huge; the number of birds in them can reach several million. The location for the nest is chosen according to possible dangers: nests are made in shelters if there is a possibility of attack by ground predators. Penguins nest openly on the islands. Scientists believe that penguins are the most social of all birds. However, there is always an exception to every rule. So it is in this case. For example, magnificent penguins prefer to live in pairs, but they very, very rarely join colonies.

The emperor penguin is the largest. Absolutely right. His height is more than one meter, and his weight reaches 45 kg (mainly due to fat reserves).

The smallest penguin weighs only one kilogram. We are talking about a small penguin. In principle, the name itself speaks for itself. Their body weight can be from one to two and a half kilograms. Body length - 30-40 centimeters. They inhabit mainly the southern coast of Australia, as well as on the north and south islands of New Zealand.

The emperor penguin chick hatches in winter. This is surprising, but living in harsh conditions, emperor penguins breed in winter, when other birds move from these places to warmer ones. The female lays only one egg, which the male hides from the cold in the abdominal fold. The male remains in the colony, and the female goes to the sea to feed. When a chick is born in the middle of winter, the returning female feeds it with semi-digested food stored in the stomach. The male, who by this time has lost more than half his weight, hands the chick to the mother and goes to sea himself, where he spends a month and a half. It should be noted that the chick hatches from the egg naked and then grows feathers within a few weeks.

Penguins spend most of their lives in the water. Penguins devote about 75% of their time to the aquatic environment. They have adapted to it so much that their wings resemble flippers of marine mammals, and almost all feathers are comparable to scales.

Penguins swim well. And not just good, but excellent! They can reach speeds of up to 40 kilometers per hour.

The fastest way to travel is "dolphin swimming". The essence of this “method” is as follows: penguins either dive or jump out of the water, that is, their behavior resembles the behavior of a dolphin. Why exactly they do this is not yet clear: either for speed, or to reduce resistance, or maybe in order to deceive their natural enemies.

Penguins dive well. The specific weight of their body due to heavy bones and the absence of subcutaneous air sacs allows penguins to dive into water to a depth of more than two hundred meters. For example, emperor penguins are capable of diving to a depth of one and a half kilometers! True, it has not yet been possible to find out what they are doing there.

On land, penguins hold their bodies vertically. They have short and thick legs, which are also set back (that is, located behind the center of gravity). When moving, penguins also rely on their tail. They can only walk in an upright position and in small steps. If there is a need for faster movement, then they glide on their belly, pushing off the snow cover with their legs and wings.

Penguins have no sense of smell. Absent or very weak, as, indeed, in all birds.

Penguins' eyes are perfectly adapted to living conditions in the aquatic environment. They have a flat cornea, so penguins are somewhat nearsighted outside the water. The contractility and distensibility of the pupil of penguins helps them, at a depth of up to one hundred meters, to quickly adapt to changing light conditions in the water.

Penguins are sensitive to water pollution. This is not surprising, especially when it comes to oil pollution. It (oil) clogs the feathers of these birds and ends up in their stomach. In this case, the water-repellent properties of the plumage are lost, and completely exhausted penguins can be thrown ashore.

A penguin is a flightless bird that belongs to the order Penguinidae, family Penguinidae (Spheniscidae).

The origin of the word “penguin” has 3 versions. The first involves 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 it. According to the second option, the name of the penguin was given by the English word pinwing, which translated means “hairpin wing.” The third version is the Latin adjective pinguis, meaning “fat.”

Penguin - description, characteristics, structure

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

As a result of evolution and lifestyle, the penguin's wings have changed into elastic flippers: when swimming underwater, they rotate in the shoulder joint like a screw. The legs are short and thick, have 4 toes, connected by swimming membranes.

Unlike other birds, the penguin's legs are significantly moved back, which forces the bird to keep its body strictly vertical 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 penguin's skeleton does not consist of hollow tubular bones, which is usual for other birds: the structure of the penguin's bones is more reminiscent of the bones of marine mammals. For optimal thermal insulation, the penguin has an impressive reserve 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 the bird like a tile, protecting it from getting wet in cold water. The color of the feathers in all species is almost identical - a dark (usually black) back and a white belly.

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

During molting, penguins are only on land, try 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 little penguin has a body length of only 30-40 cm, while the penguin weighs 1 kg.

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

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

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

With this method of movement, penguins reach speeds of 3 to 6 km/h.

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

Enemies of penguins in nature

Unfortunately, the penguin has enemies in its natural habitat. They happily peck at penguin eggs, and the helpless chicks are a tasty prey for the skua. Fur seals, killer whales, leopard seals and sea lions hunt penguins in the sea. They won’t refuse to diversify their menu with a plump penguin and.

What do penguins eat?

Penguins eat fish, crustaceans, plankton and small cephalopods. The bird happily eats krill, anchovies, Antarctic silverfish, small octopuses and squid. During one hunt, a penguin can make from 190 to 800-900 dives: this depends on the type of penguin, climatic conditions and food needs. The bird's mouthparts work on the principle of a pump: through its beak it sucks in small prey along with water. On average, birds swim about 27 kilometers during feeding 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 cool conditions. Penguins live in cold zones of the Southern Hemisphere; their concentrations are mainly observed in Antarctica and 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, and near the equator they live in the Galapagos Islands.

Classification of the Penguin family (Spheniscidae)

The order 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 from 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, golden-crested rock 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 - Lesser 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 - Chinstrap penguins

• Pygoscelis adeliae(Hombron & Jacquinot, 1841) - Adelie Penguin
• Pygoscelis antarcticus(J.R. Forster, 1781) - Chinstrap penguin
• Pygoscelis papua(J.R. Forster 1781) - Gentoo (subantarctic) 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, females are somewhat smaller - with a height of 113-115 cm they weigh on average 32 kg. The plumage on the back of the birds is black, the belly is white, and 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 its 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 adult individuals, the back is dark gray, sometimes almost black, the abdomen is white, and 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 Islands, Crozet, Kerguelen, South Georgia, Macquarie, Heard, Prince Edward, and the coastal waters of Lusitania Bay.

• Adelie Penguin ( Pygoscelis adeliae)

medium sized bird. The length of the penguin is 65-75 cm, weight is about 6 kg. The back is black, the belly is white, the distinctive feature is a white ring around the eyes. Adélie penguins live in Antarctica and the adjacent island territories: 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 belly is white, the wings and back are gray-black. Yellow eyebrows blend smoothly into tufts of yellow feathers located to 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) by shorter feathers and narrower eyebrows. The bulk of the population lives on the islands of Gough, Impregnable and Tristan da Cunha, located in the southern Atlantic Ocean.

• Golden-haired penguin (golden-haired penguin) ( Eudyptes chrysolophus)

has the typical coloring of all penguins, but differs in one feature in appearance: this penguin has a spectacular tuft of golden feathers above its eyes. Body length varies between 64-76 cm, 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 Sub-Antarctic.

• 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 the typical color of birds of this species; the beak and legs are colored orange-red. The penguins' habitat 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 color of the plumage is typical for all penguin species, the peculiarity is 1 or 2 black stripes in the neck area. Magellanic penguins nest on the Patagonian coast, on the Juan Fernandez and Falkland Islands, and small groups live in southern Peru and 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 dark gray, the penguin's belly is white. A black stripe runs down the head. Chinstrap 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, aka 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 black stripe, bending in the shape of a horseshoe and running along the belly - from the chest to the paws. The spectacled penguin lives on the coast of Namibia and South Africa, nesting along the coastline of islands with the cold Bengal Current.

• Little Penguin ( Eudyptula minor)

the smallest penguin in the world: the bird is 30-40 cm tall and weighs about 1 kg. The back of the small 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, Tasmania, New Zealand and the adjacent islands of Stuart and Chatham.

Penguins are unique birds. They cannot fly or run. Their main method of movement is swimming and diving. On land they walk awkwardly, swaying from one leg to the other and holding their baggy body upright. If necessary, penguins fall on their bellies onto the ice and quickly slide along it, using all four limbs. The forelimbs of penguins are perfectly adapted to an aquatic lifestyle. They are modified into elastic flippers, which, thanks to the special structure of the skeleton, are in a semi-stretched state and, while swimming underwater, rotate almost helically in the shoulder joint.

Unlike other flightless birds (ostriches), penguins have a sternum keel, and a well-developed one at that. The pectoral muscles, which control the movement of the flipper wings, are well developed in penguins and the keel of the sternum creates the necessary area for their attachment. In some species of penguins, the pectoral muscles account for 1/4 of the bird's weight, i.e., its relative weight is significantly greater than that of many flying birds. It is interesting that the muscle that raises the wing flipper (subclavian muscle) in penguins is even more developed than the muscle that lowers the wing, while in most other birds the subclavian muscle weighs about 10 times less than this muscle.

Among other anatomical features of penguins, it should be noted that their tarsus has obvious traces of the fusion of several (at least three) bones. The bones forming the skeleton of the forelimbs (flippers) are flattened like planks.

Penguins are large birds. They weigh approximately 40-45 kg. The largest penguin, the emperor, can, standing on land, reach with its beak the shoulder of a person of average height.

The physique of penguins is dense, the body is somewhat elongated and slightly compressed in the dorsal-abdominal direction. The legs are short, thick, and have four toes (although the first toe is very small), connected by swimming membranes. The legs are carried far back, which determines the vertical position of the body when the bird comes to land. The tail of penguins is short, consists of 16-20 feathers, on which the bird rests in a standing position; the neck is thick and flexible, the beak is usually strong and sharp. The plumage is very dense. Small feathers resembling scales grow throughout the body, so penguins have no apteria.

Penguins are distributed in the southern hemisphere, mainly in its cold parts, from the coast of Antarctica to the southern tips of Australia, Africa and South America. Where cold currents invade tropical latitudes, for example off the western coast of South America and the western coast of Africa, penguins are found even in the tropics, and one species inhabits the Galapagos Islands.

All penguins are monogamous birds, and they form pairs, apparently, for life. Penguins usually live in flocks and nest in large colonies - thousands, tens, and sometimes hundreds of thousands of pairs. Among the breeding birds in the colony there is usually a fairly large number of young, one- and two-year-old birds that do not participate in breeding. Nesting colonies are located on low rocky shores, and in some species (emperor penguin) on ice.

Some species make a simply constructed nest on the surface of the ground, using pebbles and sometimes (more northern species) rabbit bones. Others use rock cavities or burrows for nesting, and finally, there are species that do not make nests at all.

Most species have 2 eggs in a clutch, some have only one and very rarely have 3 eggs. Either both parents incubate or only the male incubates. During incubation, many penguins starve for a long time.

Penguin chicks are covered with thick down and are initially blind. Their eyes open at the end of the second week of life. Young penguins go to the water only after they molt for the first time. The mortality rate of chicks is very high, in some, although rare, cases reaching 70%.

When the chicks grow somewhat older, a peculiar phenomenon is observed - the formation of so-called “nurseries”. The chicks gather in a group of twenty or more birds, and, according to some researchers, are at this time under the supervision of several “educators”, while their parents are busy at sea searching for prey. Soviet polar explorers (E.V. Korotkevich), observing the breeding of emperor penguins, came to the conclusion that the kids huddled together are more likely a group of homeless children abandoned by their parents and forced to escape the cold, warming each other, as adult penguins standing nearby They do not pay any attention to the chicks.

Adult penguins feed on small fish, small cephalopods and planktonic crustaceans, mainly euphausiid crustaceans. The same food is brought to the chicks.

Since nesting activities take a lot of time for penguins, some species do not nest annually, but approximately twice every three years. During non-breeding times, herds of penguins wander the sea, moving 800-1000 km from their nesting sites. Most species return after migration to old nesting sites.

Penguins molt once a year. Their molting occurs in a unique way: new feathers grow under the old ones, pushing them out, and the old plumage comes off the body in rags. During molting, penguins are on land in a sheltered place and do not eat anything.

Penguins have few enemies. In the sea, leopard seals can be dangerous for them; on land, great skuas can be dangerous for them; however, skuas do not attack adult birds. Stray eggs are often stolen by snowy plovers.

Penguins are a well-distinct group of birds with ancient origins (apparently from the Lower Miocene). Currently, the order includes 15 species, forming one family - penguins(Spheniscidae). There are 36 known fossil species. The oldest remains of penguins are known from the islands of New Zealand.

The largest of the penguins - emperor penguin(Aptenodytes forsteri). When he stands hunched over on land, his height is approximately 90 cm, but when he is alert and moving - 110-120 cm. The weight of the emperor penguin is 20-45 kg.

The dorsal side of this bird is dark, grayish-blue; on the head this color turns black. There are round yellowish-orange spots near the ears, moving to the underside of the neck and gradually fading to nothing on the chest. The chicks are covered with long white or grayish-white down; the top of the head and the vertical strip separating the cheeks from the back of the head are brownish-black.

Emperor penguins nest along the shores of Antarctica on the ice, south to 78° south latitude. Unlike all other penguins, the emperor's nesting season occurs during the harshest time of the year - the Antarctic winter.

At the end of the Antarctic summer, i.e. at the beginning of March, the first emperor penguins appear on the ice. At first, they behave extremely passively: they stand motionless, hunched over and with their heads pulled into their shoulders. As the fast ice becomes thicker and covers a larger area, the number of penguins increases and reaches 5 and even 10 thousand. Pairs begin to form in April. The male moves from place to place and makes loud, peculiar sounds. After waiting for some time, he moves again and screams again. This can last for several hours, and sometimes for several days. Finally, a female responds to the male’s voice, and a pair is formed. From this time on, the male and female stay together, but quite a long time passes, about 25 days, before an egg is laid, the only one during the breeding season. Emperor penguin eggs are large: 12 cm long, 8-9 cm wide and weigh about 500 g. Their color is white.

The male and female greet the appearance of the egg with loud, as observers say, “jubilant” cries. The female holds the egg on her paws for some time, covering it with a special fold of skin on the underside of her abdomen. After a few hours it is transferred to the male, who also holds it on his paws. After this, the females, one after another, sometimes alone, more often in groups of 3-4 birds, go to sea. This continues throughout May.

Some males turn out to be “selfish”; they do not accept eggs from the female and run away from her to the sea. Sometimes the male goes to the sea, holding an egg on his paws. Eventually, such an egg rolls out and dies. However, most males jealously guard the egg, move very little, and often gather in dense heaps. And all this time they are starving, at times they “eat” only snow.

Males arrive at nesting sites well-fed, with a thick layer of fat, which is especially developed on the belly. But during “brooding” all this fat reserve (about 5-6 kg) is consumed. Birds lose up to 40% of their weight, become very thin, their plumage becomes dirty, completely losing its original shine and silkiness.

This goes on for about two months, and when the time for the chicks to hatch approaches, at the end of July, well-fed and fat females begin to arrive from the sea. The return of females continues throughout the month, and each of them finds her male by voice. The male, hungry for four months, hastily gives the egg to his girlfriend and hurries to the sea, the open surface of which is now very far from the nesting sites.

It happens that some females are late, and the chick hatches without them. Such chicks often die before their mother arrives from the sea.

The process of hatching a chick takes two days, and at first the weak chick, which does not yet have an inguinal covering, continues to sit on the female’s paws, covered by her abdominal “sumarf.”

In the entire colony, hatching lasts about a month.

Well-fed males return in September. Using vocal signals, they find their females and begin to feed the chicks.

The life of the nesting colony does not go smoothly. The polar night, terrible cold, and hurricane-force winds sometimes force birds to cluster in dense heaps. Often the eggs are lost. Sometimes immature, younger males steal eggs from their neighbors, and later, when the chicks begin to move away from their parents, fights break out over them. Single males each pull a chick towards themselves; the chick, like a soccer ball, rolls from one adult penguin to another, gets bruised and wounded, and eventually dies. Chicks also die from skuas.

At the end of November, in the summer, adult birds molt. Penguins at this time are on land, if possible, in a place protected from the wind. For each individual, molting lasts 20 days, and the birds fast during this time.

Close to imperial king penguin(A. patagonica) lives further north, in warmer places. Its breeding colonies are located on the islands of South Georgia, Kerguelen, Marion, Crozet and Macquarie. This penguin is similar to the emperor penguin, but smaller, its body length is 91-96 cm. The color of the plumage is somewhat brighter than that of the emperor penguin. The black color of the head has a greenish tint, bright yellow stripes on the sides of the neck on the upper chest turn into a greenish-yellow shirtfront, gradually merging with the glossy snow-white belly.

King penguin colonies are located on hard, rocky ground. Reproduction occurs in summer: eggs are laid mainly in December - January. Each female lays only 1 large egg

,

which, like that of the emperor penguin, is supported on its paws and covered by a ventral fold of skin. Both parents incubate alternately. Incubation duration is 54 days. The chicks grow quickly, and by the beginning of autumn the earliest chicks (hatched from eggs laid in November) reach the size of adult birds. Chicks hatched from eggs laid in January or February manage to acquire the size of only 3/4 of adults. Throughout the winter, they no longer grow; on the contrary, they become thinner and lose weight. The weaker ones die at the beginning of winter, and the chicks that entered the winter period with sufficient fat reserves weigh half as much by the end of winter. In November - December, when food is again abundant, the chicks change their downy coat to their first feather coat and leave their parents, going to sea. Around the same time, adult birds also molt in order to begin laying eggs again in January or February.

Penguins whose chicks have died begin laying eggs again earlier, in November - December; Birds that have happily raised their chicks begin to breed again in January - February. Thus, there are two “peaks” of egg laying. Parents who are the most successful in one year find themselves late nesters the next year, and their late chicks cannot survive the harsh, foodless winter. And vice versa, penguins who have lost their chicks and, accordingly, started new nesting early, raise their chicks almost without loss.

Wider than all other penguins and perhaps most numerous in Antarctica Adelie penguin(Pygpscelis adeliae). This is a fairly large bird, up to 80 cm high. Its head, neck, back and flippers (on the dorsal side) are black with a characteristic bluish tint, the chest and belly are snow-white; there is a thin white ring around the eye.

The Adélie penguin nests along the shores of the Antarctic continent and on the islands close to the mainland: South Shetland, South Orkney and South Sandwich. Outside the nesting season, it wanders widely, moving 600-700 km from its native places.

Nesting colonies of Adélie penguins are located on hard, snow-free ground, and, probably, in connection with this, colonies are in very windy places where the wind, blowing snow, exposes the soil. In individual colonies there are several tens of thousands of birds, and on Ross Island there is a known colony containing at least half a million individuals.

Birds appear on nesting sites at the end of the polar night, usually in September - October, and walk slowly, in a long line along the same path. Having arrived at the old nesting site, they immediately begin to dig a nesting hole in last year’s guano and line its circumference with small pebbles. At the same time, there is a lot of noise and even fights, since birds often steal building material from each other.

The colony consists of birds of different ages. It is based on nesting birds, not for the first time, at the age of 4-5 years. Then there are a significant number of birds starting nesting for the first time. They usually appear later than older birds, occupy places on the periphery of the colony or wedge themselves into places that remain vacant for some reason. These “newcomers” experience increased egg mortality and chick mortality. Next, non-breeding penguins (age 2-3 years), which, however, have adult plumage, stay nearby.

Sometimes they occupy a certain place in the colony and even make nests, but in most of them the gonads remain underdeveloped. And finally, there are non-breeding yearlings in juvenile plumage (well distinguished by the white color of their throat).

There are usually 2 eggs in a clutch, which are laid with an interval of 2-4 days. The duration of their incubation is 33-38 days.

Penguins arriving at the nesting site do not eat anything for two and a half to three and a half weeks, but as soon as the eggs are laid, the females return to the sea and feed there. Males, busy with incubation, continue to starve for another two to two and a half weeks. Then the returning females replace the males, and after some time, the males that have fattened at sea replace the females for a short time. If for some reason the clutch dies, the parents go to the sea, but after some time they still return, take their old place and starve, without, however, starting to lay eggs again.

The first time after the chicks hatch, the parents take turns going to the sea for food. At about four weeks of age, the chicks gather in large, close groups - “nurseries”. According to the testimony of some polar explorers (V.A. Arsenyev), several special “educators” remain with these groups, while the rest of the birds are busy searching for food - crustaceans, less fish and small cephalopods. The “educators” seem to be vigilantly monitoring the group of chicks assigned to them and, if something happens, they immediately use their beak and wings. Other researchers (William Sladen) argue that these groups are homeless. When the chicks reach eight weeks of age, the crèche disintegrates. Soon after this, the chicks change their dark, almost black downy plumage to their first feathery plumage and finally take to the water. In February - March, adult birds also molt. Typically, their molt occurs at their nesting sites.

Soviet polar explorer V.I. Dubrovnik describes an interesting case when penguins made a mistake in choosing a nesting site. In the area of ​​Lazarevskaya station, he observed a small colony of Adélie penguins sitting on their eggs right on the ice of an iceberg. Small water-filled holes with a diameter of 20-25 cm and a depth of up to 20 cm formed under the birds. Thus, each penguin sat in an ice bath. V.I. Dubrovnik encountered holes without birds. The water in them again turned into ice, in which lay the eggs frozen into it.

All observers describe Adélie penguins as active, fussy and unbalanced birds. They are curious and not shy.

There are interesting data on reproduction magnificent penguin(Megadyptes antipodes). These birds do not form colonies and usually nest in separate pairs. One-year-old birds and many two-year-old birds stay close to the nesting sites. However, approximately 48% of two-year-old females still form pairs and lay eggs. The remaining females begin nesting at the age of 3 years, some even at the age of 4 years. Males begin breeding a year later than females. Young penguins (at the age of 3 years) lay 1 egg, older penguins almost always lay 2 eggs. In most two-year-old females that have begun to reproduce, the eggs remain unfertilized.

The incubation period of the magnificent penguin is 4 weeks. The young molt and put on adult plumage at the age of 14-18 months, without being sexually mature. Sexual maturity of birds apparently occurs in the 4-5th year of life.

The magnificent penguin breeds along the south coast of New Zealand and on Stewart, Auckland and Campbell Islands in September - November. This is his appearance. The back is black with a grayish tint, the head is darker. Above the eye there are narrow areas covered with light yellow feathers, continuing to the back of the head and closing there. The throat is dark brown. The neck and ventral part of the body are white. The body length of this penguin reaches 83 cm.

Golden-haired penguins(Eudyptes chrysolophus), having, as is typical of all penguins, a dark dorsal side with an almost black head and a white belly, are distinguished by the presence of tufts of golden-yellow feathers above the eyes, forming a crest. The body length of these birds is 65-76 cm.

They are distributed throughout the southern Atlantic and Indian oceans. They breed on South Georgia, South Shetland, South Orkney and some other subantarctic islands. Their colonies are very numerous - up to 600 thousand nesting individuals. In total, there are at least 2 million adult birds on the coasts and valleys of Macquarie Island alone.

They nest on the ground, making very primitive nests. Two eggs are laid, the second four days after the first. Both eggs are fertilized, but the first is always smaller than the second, and the bird usually does not incubate it. The duration of incubation is 35 days, with changes of parents characteristic of penguins. Adult birds raise their chicks for about two to three weeks, after which a “nursery” is formed, followed by molting and going to sea around the end of January.

A specific feature of colonies of golden-haired penguins is a strong smell, reminiscent of rotten fish, which can be smelled several kilometers from the colony.

The smallest of the penguins - little penguin(Eudyptula minor). It has a body length of only 40 cm. It lives off the southern coast of Australia, along the shores of Tasmania, New Zealand and Chatham Island. He is lighter than other penguins, his upper body is dark gray, his belly is pure white. Usually lays 1-2, sometimes 3 eggs.

The northernmost view is galapagos penguin(Spheniscus mendiculus). This is the only penguin that breeds in the tropics. The female lays 2 eggs in rock crevices in the colder season (May - June). The Galapagos penguin is slightly larger than the little penguin. The upper side of its body is dark, the lower side is white, the chin and upper side of the throat are white, separated from the rest of the white color of the lower body by a brownish stripe.

Finally, off the southern and southwestern coasts of Africa you can find spectacled penguin(S. demersus). Having black upperparts and white underparts, it is well distinguished by the presence of a narrow black horseshoe-shaped stripe on the chest, which runs down the sides of the body to the paws. In addition, a white stripe goes around the back of the head and cheeks and then goes forward to the eyes and further towards the beak, but does not reach it. The body length of spectacled penguins is 61-86 cm. Reproduction occurs throughout the year, mainly in May - June.

Animal life: in 6 volumes. - M.: Enlightenment. Edited by professors N.A. Gladkov, A.V. Mikheev. 1970 .

Superorder penguins (Impennes) (N. A. Gladkov)

Order penguins (Sphemsciformes)

Penguins are unique birds. They cannot fly or run. Their main method of movement is swimming and diving. On land they walk awkwardly, swaying from one leg to the other and holding their baggy body upright. If necessary, penguins fall on their bellies onto the ice and quickly slide along it, using all four limbs. The forelimbs of penguins are perfectly adapted to an aquatic lifestyle. They are modified into elastic flippers, which, thanks to the special structure of the skeleton, are in a semi-stretched state and, while swimming underwater, rotate almost helically in the shoulder joint.

Unlike other flightless birds (ostriches), penguins have a sternum keel, and a well-developed one at that. The pectoral muscles, which control the movement of the flipper wings, are well developed in penguins and the keel of the sternum creates the necessary area for their attachment. In some species of penguins, the pectoral muscles account for 1/4 of the bird's weight, i.e., its relative weight is significantly greater than that of many flying birds. It is interesting that the muscle that raises the wing flipper (subclavian muscle) in penguins is even more developed than the muscle that lowers the wing, while in most other birds the subclavian muscle weighs about 10 times less than this muscle.

Among other anatomical features of penguins, it should be noted that their tarsus has obvious traces of the fusion of several (at least three) bones. The bones forming the skeleton of the forelimbs (flippers) are flattened like planks.

Penguins are large birds. They weigh approximately 40-45 kg. The largest penguin, the emperor, can, standing on land, reach with its beak the shoulder of a person of average height.

The physique of penguins is dense, the body is somewhat elongated and slightly compressed in the dorsal-abdominal direction. The legs are short, thick, and have four toes (although the first toe is very small), connected by swimming membranes. The legs are carried far back, which determines the vertical position of the body when the bird comes to land. The tail of penguins is short, consists of 16-20 feathers, on which the bird rests in a standing position; the neck is thick and flexible, the beak is usually strong and sharp. The plumage is very dense. Small feathers resembling scales grow throughout the body, so penguins have no apteria.

Penguins are distributed in the southern hemisphere, mainly in its cold parts, from the coast of Antarctica to the southern tips of Australia, Africa and South America. Where cold currents invade tropical latitudes, for example off the western coast of South America and the western coast of Africa, penguins are found even in the tropics, and one species inhabits the Galapagos Islands.

All penguins are monogamous birds, and they form pairs, apparently, for life. Penguins usually live in flocks and nest in large colonies - thousands, tens, and sometimes hundreds of thousands of pairs. Among the breeding birds in the colony there is usually a fairly large number of young, one- and two-year-old birds that do not participate in breeding. Nesting colonies are located on low rocky shores, and in some species (emperor penguin) on ice.

Some species make a simply constructed nest on the surface of the ground, using pebbles and sometimes (more northern species) rabbit bones. Others use rock cavities or burrows for nesting, and finally, there are species that do not make nests at all.

Most species have 2 eggs in a clutch, some have only one and very rarely have 3 eggs. Either both parents incubate or only the male incubates. During incubation, many penguins starve for a long time.

Penguin chicks are covered with thick down and are initially blind. Their eyes open at the end of the second week of life. Young penguins go to the water only after they molt for the first time. The mortality rate of chicks is very high, in some, although rare, cases reaching 70%.

When the chicks grow somewhat older, a peculiar phenomenon is observed - the formation of so-called “nurseries”. The chicks gather in a group of twenty or more birds, and, according to some researchers, are at this time under the supervision of several “educators”, while their parents are busy at sea searching for prey. Soviet polar explorers (E.V. Korotkevich), observing the breeding of emperor penguins, came to the conclusion that the kids huddled together are more likely a group of homeless children abandoned by their parents and forced to escape the cold, warming each other, as adult penguins standing nearby They do not pay any attention to the chicks.

Adult penguins feed on small fish, small cephalopods and planktonic crustaceans, mainly euphausiid crustaceans. The same food is brought to the chicks.

Since nesting activities take a lot of time for penguins, some species do not nest annually, but approximately twice every three years. During non-breeding times, herds of penguins wander the sea, moving 800-1000 meters away from the nesting sites. km. Most species return after migration to old nesting sites.

Penguins molt once a year. Their molting occurs in a unique way: new feathers grow under the old ones, pushing them out, and the old plumage comes off the body in rags. During molting, penguins are on land in a sheltered place and do not eat anything.

Penguins have few enemies. In the sea, leopard seals can be dangerous for them; on land, great skuas can be dangerous for them; however, skuas do not attack adult birds. Stray eggs are often stolen by snowy plovers.

Penguins are a well-distinct group of birds with ancient origins (apparently from the Lower Miocene). Currently, the order includes 15 species, forming one family - penguins(Spheniscidae). There are 36 known fossil species. The oldest remains of penguins are known from the islands of New Zealand.

The largest of the penguins - emperor penguin(Aptenodytes forsteri). When he stands hunched over on land, his height is approximately 90 cm, but when he is alert and moving - 110-120 cm. Emperor penguin weight - 20-45 kg.

The dorsal side of this bird is dark, grayish-blue; on the head this color turns black. There are round yellowish-orange spots near the ears, moving to the underside of the neck and gradually fading to nothing on the chest. The chicks are covered with long white or grayish-white down; the top of the head and the vertical strip separating the cheeks from the back of the head are brownish-black.

Emperor penguins nest along the shores of Antarctica on the ice, south to 78° south latitude. Unlike all other penguins, the emperor's nesting season occurs during the harshest time of the year - the Antarctic winter.

At the end of the Antarctic summer, i.e. at the beginning of March, the first emperor penguins appear on the ice. At first, they behave extremely passively: they stand motionless, hunched over and with their heads pulled into their shoulders. As the fast ice becomes thicker and covers a larger area, the number of penguins increases and reaches 5 and even 10 thousand. Pairs begin to form in April. The male moves from place to place and makes loud, peculiar sounds. After waiting for some time, he moves again and screams again. This can last for several hours, and sometimes for several days. Finally, a female responds to the male’s voice, and a pair is formed. From this time on, the male and female stay together, but quite a long time passes, about 25 days, before an egg is laid, the only one during the breeding season. Emperor penguins have large eggs: 12 cm length, 8-9 cm width and about 500 G weight. Their color is white.

The male and female greet the appearance of the egg with loud, as observers say, “jubilant” cries. The female holds the egg on her paws for some time, covering it with a special fold of skin on the underside of her abdomen. After a few hours it is transferred to the male, who also holds it on his paws. After this, the females, one after another, sometimes alone, more often in groups of 3-4 birds, go to sea. This continues throughout May.

Some males turn out to be “selfish”; they do not accept eggs from the female and run away from her to the sea. Sometimes the male goes to the sea, holding an egg on his paws. Eventually, such an egg rolls out and dies. However, most males jealously guard the egg, move very little, and often gather in dense heaps. And all this time they are starving, at times they “eat” only snow.

Males arrive at nesting sites well-fed, with a thick layer of fat, which is especially developed on the belly. But during “brooding” all this fat reserve (about 5-6 kg) is consumed. Birds lose up to 40% of their weight, become very thin, their plumage becomes dirty, completely losing its original shine and silkiness.

This goes on for about two months, and when the time for the chicks to hatch approaches, at the end of July, well-fed and fat females begin to arrive from the sea. The return of females continues throughout the month, and each of them finds her male by voice. The male, hungry for four months, hastily gives the egg to his girlfriend and hurries to the sea, the open surface of which is now very far from the nesting sites.

It happens that some females are late, and the chick hatches without them. Such chicks often die before their mother arrives from the sea.

The process of hatching a chick takes two days, and at first the weak chick, which does not yet have downy cover, continues to sit on the female’s paws, covered by her abdominal “bag”.

In the entire colony, hatching lasts about a month.

Well-fed males return in September. Using vocal signals, they find their females and begin to feed the chicks.

The life of the nesting colony does not go smoothly. The polar night, terrible cold, and hurricane-force winds sometimes force birds to cluster in dense heaps. Often the eggs are lost. Sometimes immature, younger males steal eggs from their neighbors, and later, when the chicks begin to move away from their parents, fights break out over them. Single males each pull a chick towards themselves; the chick, like a soccer ball, rolls from one adult penguin to another, gets bruised and wounded, and eventually dies. Chicks also die from skuas.

At the end of November, in the summer, adult birds molt. Penguins at this time are on land, if possible, in a place protected from the wind. For each individual, molting lasts 20 days, and the birds fast during this time.

Close to imperial king penguin(A. patagonica) lives further north, in warmer places. Its breeding colonies are located on the islands of South Georgia, Kerguelen, Marion, Crozet and Macquarie. This penguin is similar to the emperor penguin, but smaller, its body length is 91-96 cm. The color of the plumage is somewhat brighter than that of the emperor penguin. The black color of the head has a greenish tint, bright yellow stripes on the sides of the neck on the upper chest turn into a greenish-yellow shirtfront, gradually merging with the glossy snow-white belly.

King penguin colonies are located on hard, rocky ground. Reproduction occurs in summer: eggs are laid mainly in December - January. Each female lays only 1 large egg (Table 1), which, like that of the emperor penguin, is held on its paws and covered with a ventral fold of skin. Both parents incubate alternately. Incubation duration is 54 days. The chicks grow quickly, and by the beginning of autumn the earliest chicks (hatched from eggs laid in November) reach the size of adult birds. Chicks hatched from eggs laid in January or February manage to acquire the size of only 3/4 of adults. Throughout the winter, they no longer grow; on the contrary, they become thinner and lose weight. The weaker ones die at the beginning of winter, and the chicks that entered the winter period with sufficient fat reserves weigh half as much by the end of winter. In November - December, when food is again abundant, the chicks change their downy coat to their first feather coat and leave their parents, going to sea. Around the same time, adult birds also molt in order to begin laying eggs again in January or February.

Penguins whose chicks have died begin laying eggs again earlier, in November - December; Birds that have happily raised their chicks begin to breed again in January - February. Thus, there are two “peaks” of egg laying. Parents who are the most successful in one year find themselves late nesters the next year, and their late chicks cannot survive the harsh, foodless winter. And vice versa, penguins who have lost their chicks and, accordingly, started new nesting early, raise their chicks almost without loss.

Wider than all other penguins and perhaps most numerous in Antarctica Adelie penguin(Pygoscelis adeliae). This is a fairly large bird, up to 80 cm high. Its head, neck, back and flippers (on the dorsal side) are black with a characteristic bluish tint, the chest and belly are snow-white; there is a thin white ring around the eye.

The Adélie penguin nests along the shores of the Antarctic continent and on the islands close to the mainland: South Shetland, South Orkney and South Sandwich. Outside the nesting season, it wanders widely, moving 600-700 km from its native places.

Nesting colonies of Adélie penguins are located on hard, snow-free ground, and, probably, in connection with this, colonies are in very windy places where the wind, blowing snow, exposes the soil. In individual colonies there are several tens of thousands of birds, and on Ross Island there is a known colony containing at least half a million individuals.

Birds appear on nesting sites at the end of the polar night, usually in September - October, and walk slowly, in a long line along the same path. Having arrived at the old nesting site, they immediately begin to dig a nesting hole in last year’s guano and line its circumference with small pebbles. At the same time, there is a lot of noise and even fights, since birds often steal building material from each other.

The colony consists of birds of different ages. It is based on nesting birds, not for the first time, at the age of 4-5 years. Then there are a significant number of birds starting nesting for the first time. They usually appear later than older birds, occupy places on the periphery of the colony or wedge themselves into places that remain vacant for some reason. These “newcomers” experience increased egg mortality and chick mortality. Next, non-breeding penguins (age 2-3 years), which, however, have adult plumage, stay nearby. Sometimes they occupy a certain place in the colony and even make nests, but in most of them the gonads remain underdeveloped. And finally, there are non-breeding yearlings in juvenile plumage (well distinguished by the white color of their throat).

There are usually 2 eggs in a clutch, which are laid with an interval of 2-4 days. The duration of their incubation is 33-38 days.

Penguins arriving at the nesting site do not eat anything for two and a half to three and a half weeks, but as soon as the eggs are laid, the females return to the sea and feed there. Males, busy with incubation, continue to starve for another two to two and a half weeks. Then the returning females replace the males, and after some time, the males that have fattened at sea replace the females for a short time. If the clutch dies for some reason, the parents go to the sea, but after some time they still return, take their old place and starve, without, however, starting to lay eggs again.

The first time after the chicks hatch, the parents take turns going to the sea for food. At about four weeks of age, the chicks gather in large, close groups - “nurseries”. According to the testimony of some polar explorers (V.A. Arsenyev), several special “educators” remain with these groups, while the rest of the birds are busy searching for food - crustaceans, in smaller quantities fish and small cephalopods. The “educators” seem to be vigilantly monitoring the group of chicks assigned to them and, if something happens, they immediately use their beak and wings. Other researchers (William Sladen) argue that these groups are homeless. When the chicks reach eight weeks of age, the crèche disintegrates. Soon after this, the chicks change their dark, almost black downy plumage to their first feathery plumage and finally take to the water. In February - March, adult birds also molt. Typically, their molt occurs at their nesting sites.

Soviet polar explorer V.I. Dubrovnik describes an interesting case when penguins made a mistake in choosing a nesting site. In the area of ​​Lazarevskaya station, he observed a small colony of Adélie penguins sitting on their eggs right on the ice of an iceberg. Small water-filled holes with a diameter of 20-25 formed under the birds. cm and depth up to 20 cm. Thus, each penguin sat in an ice bath. V.I. Dubrovnik encountered holes without birds. The water in them again turned into ice, in which lay the eggs frozen into it.

All observers describe Adélie penguins as active, fussy and unbalanced birds. They are curious and not shy.

There are interesting data on reproduction magnificent penguin(Megadyptes antipodes). These birds do not form colonies and usually nest in separate pairs. One-year-old birds and many two-year-old birds stay close to the nesting sites. However, approximately 48% of two-year-old females still form pairs and lay eggs. The remaining females begin nesting at the age of 3 years, some even at the age of 4 years. Males begin breeding a year later than females. Young penguins (at the age of 3 years) lay 1 egg, older penguins almost always lay 2 eggs. In most two-year-old females that have begun to reproduce, the eggs remain unfertilized.

The incubation period of the magnificent penguin is 4 weeks. The young molt and put on adult plumage at the age of 14-18 months, without being sexually mature. Sexual maturity of birds apparently occurs in the 4-5th year of life.

The magnificent penguin nests along the southern coast of the islands of New Zealand and on the islands of Stewart, Auckland and Campbell in September - November. Its appearance is as follows. The back is black with a grayish tint, the head is darker. Above the eye there are narrow areas covered with light yellow feathers, continuing to the back of the head and close there. The throat is dark brown. The neck and ventral part of the body are white. The body length of this penguin reaches 83 cm.

Golden-haired penguins(Eudyptes chrysolophus), having, as is typical of all penguins, a dark dorsal side with an almost black head and a white belly, are distinguished by the presence of tufts of golden-yellow feathers above the eyes, forming a crest. The body length of these birds is 65-76 cm.

They are distributed throughout the southern Atlantic and Indian oceans. They breed on South Georgia, South Shetland, South Orkney and some other subantarctic islands. Their colonies are very numerous - up to 600 thousand nesting individuals. In total, there are at least 2 million adult birds on the coasts and valleys of Macquarie Island alone.

They nest on the ground, making very primitive nests. Two eggs are laid, the second four days after the first. Both eggs are fertilized, but the first is always smaller than the second, and the bird usually does not incubate it. The duration of incubation is 35 days, with changes of parents characteristic of penguins. Adult birds raise their chicks for about two to three weeks, after which a “nursery” is formed, followed by molting and going to sea around the end of January.

A specific feature of colonies of golden-haired penguins is a strong smell, reminiscent of rotten fish, which can be smelled several kilometers from the colony.

The smallest of the penguins - little penguin(Eudyptula minor). It has a body length of only 40 cm. It stays off the southern coast of Australia, along the coasts of Tasmania, New Zealand and Chatham Island. He is lighter than other penguins, his upper body is dark gray, his belly is pure white. Usually lays 1-2, sometimes 3 eggs.

The northernmost view is galapagos penguin(Spheniscus mendiculus). This is the only penguin that breeds in the tropics. The female lays 2 eggs in rock crevices in the colder season (May - June). The Galapagos penguin is slightly larger than the little penguin. The upper side of its body is dark, the lower side is white, the chin and upper side of the throat are white, separated from the rest of the white color of the lower body by a brownish stripe.

Finally, off the southern and southwestern coasts of Africa you can find spectacled penguin(S. demersus). Having black upperparts and white underparts, it is well distinguished by the presence of a narrow black horseshoe-shaped stripe on the chest, which runs down the sides of the body to the paws. In addition, a white stripe goes around the back of the head and cheeks and then goes forward to the eyes and further towards the beak, but does not reach it. Body length of spectacled penguins 61-86 cm. They reproduce throughout the year, mainly in May - June.