How many years do emperor penguins live? Emperor penguin: photo and description, habitat, lifestyle and interesting facts. Do birds live in captivity?

What do we know about the emperor penguin? Why is this particular penguin called the largest in the world? Where does it live and where does it breed? What does it eat? How do males manage to survive without food, at temperatures of -40 degrees, and sometimes -60, in the wind reaching 200 m / s? How does a female find a male with a chick, after more than two months of absence, among thousands of her wildly screaming relatives? Or what helps the emperor penguin jump out of the water like a torpedo?

The largest penguin in the world.

Growth emperor penguin reaches 120 cm, and the weight reaches 40 kg., and sometimes even more in males. Although emperor penguins are birds, everyone knows that they do not fly. Their plumage is more like a fur coat, but this is because the penguin's feathers are very short and dense.

Where does the emperor penguin live?

The largest penguins in the world live in the coldest place in the world - on ice floes around Antarctica and only for the period of mating and breeding they get out to the mainland, and in the coldest season - June, when the air temperature drops below 50 degrees.

How do emperor penguins breed?

During courtship, the female and male sing to each other a special song that helps them find each other in colonies, the number of which reaches several thousand. Then the female lays an egg, which is taken by the penguin dad almost immediately. It is he who takes care of him for the next 65 days. He lays the egg on his paws and covers it with a special fold, the temperature under which is kept at about 30 degrees. In order to hatch an emperor penguin's egg, daddy gained weight in advance - about 6 kg. fat. Now he is without food and in the bitter frost with a piercing wind, he must hold out for up to three months until his mother returns.
How do penguins manage, in such natural conditions, not only to survive on their own, but also to preserve their future offspring? This difficulty is not a problem for our heroes. They seem to know that they need to group, which they do in especially windy weather. Males of the emperor penguin huddle together, with an average of about ten individuals per square meter. These wise birds take turns changing places, exposing their backs to the cold winds, thereby protecting the entire colony. And what is mom doing at this time? She, after transferring the egg to the male, goes to the sea in search of food and returns to exactly certain time when the baby hatches. It looks like a built-in clock, the mother is not late, because the baby needs to be fed. But how does she find her own? According to the song that she and the male sang before she left. From our human point of view, it is difficult to call it a song, since the sound made by the emperor penguin is more like the sound of a rattle. Imagine what happens when these “songs” are sung by the entire colony of many thousands, but the female hears her own male, and isn't it a miracle? Now the male can go to sea to hunt, because he lost about 30% of his weight during the incubation period.

What do emperor penguins eat?

These seabirds perfectly swim and dive, and therefore their diet consists of sea fish, squid, and planktonic crustaceans (krill).

How does an emperor penguin manage to swim underwater like a torpedo?

It turns out it's all about the unusual structure of his feathers. Air is trapped between them. This has a double meaning: it helps the bird to keep warm, and also to increase its speed in the water several times. This, according to marine biologists, is due to the fact that tiny bubbles reduce friction on the surface of feathers in water. It is thanks to this that penguins can literally jump out of the water. And this helps them get out onto slippery ice floes.

And this is most likely not all that we know about the emperor penguin, but even this knowledge helps to admire the wonders of creation!

Emperor or large penguins (Aptenodytes) are birds belonging to the penguin family. The scientific name is translated from Greek as "wingless divers". Penguins are well known all over the world for their distinctive black and white plumage and very funny behavior.

Description of the emperor penguin

Emperor penguins are very different from other members of the penguin family.... These are the largest and very heavy birds, a feature of which is the inability to build nests, and the incubation of eggs is carried out inside a special leathery fold on the belly.

External appearance

Males of the emperor penguin are capable of reaching a height of 130 cm with an average weight of 35-40 kg, but some individuals have a body weight of 50 kg, and sometimes even more. The growth of an adult female is 114-115 cm with a body weight of 30-32 kg. This view has the largest muscle mass due to a very well-developed thoracic region.

The plumage of the dorsal part of the emperor penguin is black, and the thoracic region has a white coloration, making the bird less visible to enemies in the water. Under the cervical region and in the cheeks, the presence of a yellowish-orange color is characteristic.

It is interesting! The black plumage of an adult penguin changes to brown coloration around November, and remains that way until February.

The body of the hatching chicks is covered with a pure white or grayish-white down. The weight of a baby born is on average 310-320 g. The plumage of adult emperor penguins is able to provide good protection of the body from heat loss without changes in metabolism. Among other things, the mechanism of heat exchange of blood flows, which circulates in the paws of the bird, fights against heat loss.

Another characteristic difference between the penguin and other birds is bone density. If all birds have bones of a tubular structure, which facilitates the skeleton and allows you to fly, then penguins have a skeleton without the presence of internal cavities.

Life span

Compared to other penguin species, whose average lifespan rarely exceeds fifteen years, king penguins can live in the wild for a quarter of a century. There are cases when, when kept in a zoo, the life expectancy of individuals exceeded thirty years.

Where does the emperor penguin live?

This bird species became widespread in territories located within 66 ° and 77 ° south latitude. To create nesting colonies, places are selected in the immediate vicinity of icebergs or ice rocks, where the emperor penguins are most comfortable and provided good protection from strong or gusty winds.

The average population size of a species can vary within 400-450 thousand individuals, divided into several colonies.

It is interesting! Approximately 300 thousand emperor penguins live on ice floes located around Antarctica, but during the mating season and to incubate eggs, birds must migrate to the mainland.

A significant number of breeding pairs are located at Cape Washington. This place is considered to be one of the largest in terms of the number of king penguins. Approximately 20-25 thousand breeding pairs of this species are observed here. They are also found in large numbers on the Queen Maud Land Islands, Coleman and Victoria Islands, Taylor Glacier and Heard Island.

Lifestyle and behavior

Emperor penguins keep in colonies, which find natural shelters for themselves, represented by cliffs or rather large ice floes. Around the habitat, there are always areas with open water and food supply.... To move these unusual birds very often they use the belly, lying on which the emperor penguin begins to actively work not only with its paws, but also with its wings.

To keep warm, adults are able to gather in fairly dense groups. Even with temperature conditions ambient air at −20 ° C, inside such a group the temperature is stably kept at + 35 ° C 35.

It is interesting! To ensure equality, the emperor penguins, gathered in groups, constantly change places, so the individuals stationed in the center periodically move to the edge, and vice versa.

The bird spends about a couple of months a year in the waters of the water area. Emperor penguins have a very proud and majestic appearance, corresponding to the name, but at the same time, it is a very cautious, and sometimes even shy bird, so repeated attempts to ring it have not been crowned with success so far.

Eating the emperor penguin

Emperor penguins hunt, gathering in groups of different numbers. As a rule, the bird swims inside the fish school, and quickly attacking its prey, swallows it. Small fish are absorbed directly in the water, but larger prey penguins cut already on the surface.

It is interesting! Adult male and female penguins can walk almost 500 km in the squeak of food. They are not afraid of extreme temperatures of minus 40-70 ° C and wind speeds up to 144 km / h.

During the hunt, the bird is able to move at a speed of up to 5-6 km / h or swim significant distances. Penguins can stay under water for up to fifteen minutes. The main reference point in the process of hunting is vision. The diet is represented not only by fish, but also by various shellfish, squid and krill.

Reproduction and offspring

King penguins are monogamous, so a pair is created for almost the rest of their lives... Males use a loud voice to attract their mate. Mating games lasts about a month, during which the birds carry out joint walks, as well as a kind of "dances" with low bows and even alternate singing. A single egg for the entire breeding season, laid after about four weeks. It is quite large, and has a length of 120 mm and a width of 8-9 mm. The average egg weight varies within 490-510 g. Egg-laying is carried out in May-early June and, as a rule, is accompanied by loud jubilant calls of the male and female.

For some time, the female holds the egg in her paws, covering it with a leathery fold on her belly, and after a few hours she transfers it to the male. A female starving for one and a half months goes hunting, and the male warms an egg in a brood pouch for nine weeks. During this period, the male extremely rarely makes any movements and feeds only on snow, therefore, by the time the chick appears, it is able to lose more than a third of its original body weight. As a rule, the female returns from hunting in mid-July and, recognizing her male by her voice, replaces him in laying eggs.

It is interesting! Sometimes the female does not have time to return from the hunt to the appearance of the chick, and then the male triggers special glands that process subcutaneous fat into creamy "bird's milk", with the help of which the offspring are fed.

The chicks are covered with down, so they will be able to swim only six months later, after the main molt has passed... At the age of one and a half months, the baby is already briefly separated from his parents. Often the result of such carelessness is the death of the chick, which is hunted by skuas and predatory giant petrels. Having lost their baby, a couple is able to steal someone else's little penguin and raise him as their own. Real battles unfold between relatives and "foster" parents, which often end in the death of birds. Around January, all adult penguins and juveniles go to sea.

Natural enemies of the emperor penguin

Adult Emperor Penguins - Powerful and Well developed birds, therefore, in natural conditions, they do not have too many enemies.

The only predators that prey on an adult penguin of this species are killer whales and. Also, young small penguins and chicks on ice floes can become prey for adult skuas or giant petrels.

Population and status of the species

The main threats to the king penguin population are global warming, as well as a sharp decline in the food supply. A decrease in the total area of ice cover on the planet has a very Negative influence for the breeding of king penguins, as well as fish and crustaceans that this bird feeds on.

Important! As shown by numerous studies, with a probability of 80%, the population of such penguins runs the risk of very soon declining to 5% of today's population.

The commercial demand for fish and its irregular catch is depleting food resources, so it becomes more difficult for penguins to find food for themselves every year. Also, significant disturbance of the natural environment, caused by the massive development of tourism and strong pollution of nesting sites, also negatively affects the number of birds. If urgent measures are not taken in the near future, then very soon there will be only 350-400 pairs in the entire globe that will be able to acquire offspring.

The word "Antarctica" immediately presents itself as endless expanses of snow and ice, snow-white plains under a dazzlingly bright blue sky. Its rich color is due to the extremely low temperatures prevailing in the harsh region. It is hard to believe that life can exist in the midst of this icy silence. But it is there, just imagine! Among the few representatives of the Arctic fauna on place of honor there is an emperor penguin. An amazing creature, the largest and most beautiful among the penguin family.

Habitat

The emperor penguin is listed in the Red Book. Today there are only about 300 thousand individuals of this species. This is negligible for the feathered family, therefore the stately rare birds was taken under protection by the state.

For habitation, the bird prefers the southern regions of Antarctica, drifting on ice floes in the northern waters. And it goes on land during the mating season for mating and breeding. However, the process of incubating and raising babies takes most of the year, so we can say that penguins are sedentary. The latest data from satellite observation states about 38 colonies of imperial birds.

A bright bird with an impressive appearance: description plus photos

The emperor penguin fully justifies its name with its external splendor. To begin with, it should be said that this is a giant among the penguin species. His height is up to 120 cm and weight over 40 kg impressive. There are even larger specimens. Although females are smaller than males, they gain body weight up to 30 kg, but still, the general impression of the stoutness of the birds does not change from this.

The back and wings of the penguins are coal-black, although there is a bluish-gray camouflage mantle on the back over the main plumage. The snow-white belly and forelegs contrast with the black.

The slightly yellowish tint of the tummy turns into a pale yellow palette on the throat and frankly sunny in the surrounding space on the sides of the head. There are no differences in color by gender. Babies of the emperor penguin initially look like little white fluffy balls with a gray tummy and a black hat.

It was not for nothing that nature gave such a color to a magnificent bird, so it protected it from the attack of predators in the water, making it as invisible as possible. The musculature of penguins is very developed and strong. Although they do not know how to fly, they swim masterfully. So that ultra-low temperatures, snowstorms with a piercing wind, icy ocean water did not become an obstacle to the life of the imperial handsome man, he acquired the functions and structure of the body corresponding to natural conditions:

small head and limbs;
very thick subcutaneous fat;
tough short, extremely dense feather;
streamlined torso;
wing in the form of flippers.

This is all aimed at minimizing heat loss and maintaining waterproofing as water runs down the feathers without absorbing into it. The structure of the skeleton and the shape of the body testify to the bird as an excellent swimmer and diver.

Group hunting rules and diet

The land of the Arctic, chained in permafrost, is completely inhospitable to its inhabitants, and one should not expect generous gifts from it. Why, even a meager food under meter-long layers of snow cannot be found. Therefore, everyone living in the harsh northern regions is looking for food in the sea waters.

The emperor penguin prefers to get food in a group way. The bird population, as an aggressor, breaks into the fish school, causing terror and chaos, and simply grabs everything that is in close proximity. The birds swallow small prey right under the water, and the larger trophies are pulled to the shore or the nearest ice floe and there they are torn into small pieces and eat.

Penguins' movement speed in water is not too high - up to 6 km / h... But as a diver, the imperial representative of the penguin species is the undoubted leader. With good illumination of the sea depths, he is able to dive below 30 mand stay under water for more than a quarter of an hour. The rays penetrating through the water column directly affect the depth of the dive, because the reference point for birds is their vision, and in the dark there will be no sense from diving, all the prey will calmly swim by.

Most of the day is spent on getting food. In addition to fish, the diet includes squid, crustacean krill, molluscs and cephalopods.

Survival rules and features of life

Society for emperor penguins is a natural state. They live in colonies of up to 1000 animals. To live on land, they choose places sheltered from the piercing arctic winds: huge icy outgrowths, cliffs, hummocks. For warming, the birds are grouped into large flocks, periodically changing places, the outer ones move to the center and vice versa. Indeed, in the middle of a huge bird ball it is not just warm, it is even hot there. Fairness is evident among bird communities.

Emperor penguin settlements must be near open waters to hunt. Watching the birds as they move is very interesting. They do this not on their two legs, but sliding on their belly and pushing off with their paws and wings, like oars.

Breeding offspring

The preservation of the duration of the genus takes most of the year among the imperial birds. Only a couple of months in total it takes the birds to hunt, the rest of the time is taken up by parenting. Which, by the way, are performed with equal responsibility by females and males.

For breeding, the penguin chose a very unfavorable time - May-June. This annual segment is characterized by extremely low temperatures (below -50C) and raging winds (up to 200 km / h). Not very reasonable, but hunting, as they say, is worse than bondage. Due to the harsh climatic conditions, heirs grow slowly and are constantly exposed to danger from the weather.

For laying eggs, the emperor penguin, as any bird makes a nest. Of course, in the icy desert you cannot find branches, sticks, even moss for this. But on the other hand, secluded corners away from the wind and water in the crevice of the rock are perfect. Or even just a depression at its foot. The bird lays the nest with stones, which, due to the scarcity the environment not that much either. Sly dads have found a way out that is not too honest, but without fail acting on females. They secretly drag stones from their relatives, demonstrating all their homeliness and desire to bring everything to the family.

They prefer to arrange "kindergartens" for raising offspring on coastal ice... A very smart decision. Not every predator wants to cross the icy waters to feast on eggs or young birds. It's just that the white polar bear doesn't care about sea waters, but fortunately this does not happen very often. If a breeding colony is created on the mainland, then it will be the quietest, warmest place near the rocks, protected from the wind.

6 weeks after mating, the female will lay only one egg and leave it in the care of the father. Itself will leave to feed and will be absent for about 3 months. All this time, the male will warm the future cub under the fold of skin on the belly. During incubation, he loses weight by almost half, but he never throws an egg until his mother returns. The weight of the penguin at birth is about 0.5 kg... He usually appears at the arrival of the parent. If this happens earlier, then the father feeds the newborn with juice from a special gastric gland.

The emerging chick is first fed by the mother with the caught semi-digested fish, and then both parents do it. At two months, babies cluster in a nursery, forming flocks, and by the end of summer, parents stop supplying children with provisions, and they begin an independent life.

After gaining adult status in chicks, a flock of penguins leaves the breeding site back to the sea. But before that, they molt. The process of changing plumage is difficult for a bird to endure. She does not eat, practically does not move, and loses a lot of weight.

Interesting Emperor Penguin Facts

The bird was first described by a member of an Arctic expedition led by Bellingshausen back in the 19th century. And only a century later, researcher Scott studied the penguin in more detail and seriously during his trip to Antarctica.

Watching penguins is a very difficult task. The birds are so fearful that when people approach, they throw not only egg clutches, but also helpless chicks and run away.

During the rearing of offspring, up to 35% of young animals die from attacks of predators. Birds (Antarctic skuas and giant petrels) and mammals (leopard seals and killer whales) are to blame for this.

Despite their low birth weight, baby penguins are very voracious. A growing chick can eat 6 kg at a timebrought food. Parents knock themselves off their feet to feed their growing child.

The life expectancy of the emperor penguin is high, given the extremely harsh living conditions - 25 years. They survive well in captivity, and even reproduce.

Video "Life of imperial penguin families"

Emperor penguin- the largest and heaviest of modern species family of penguins. The average height is about 122 cm, and the weight ranges between 22 and 45 kg. The head and back of the body are black, the abdomen is white, turning yellow towards the top. Like all penguins, emperor penguins cannot fly. Together with the king penguin, it belongs to the genus of emperor penguins (Aptenodytes). The specific Latin name is given in honor of the German scientist Johann Forster (1729-1798).

Appearance

Males of the emperor penguin reach a height of 130 cm and weigh an average of 35-40 kg, but the maximum weight of a male can reach 50 kg. Females reach 114 cm in height and 32 kg in weight. It is the largest of all modern penguins. The muscular mass of the emperor penguin is also the largest of all bird species (mainly due to the pectoral muscles). The plumage of the emperor penguin is black on the back, and white on the chest, which makes it less noticeable to enemies in the water. They have a yellow-orange coloration under the neck and on the cheeks. Chicks are covered with white or grayish-white down.

Study history

The emperor penguin was discovered by the Bellingshausen expedition of 1819-1822.

A significant contribution to the study of the emperor penguin was made by the Antarctic Expedition of Robert Scott 1910-1913. when a group of three (including Adrian Wilson) departed from the base at Cape Evans in McMurdo Bay to Cape Crozier, where several penguin eggs were harvested, which was important for studying the embryonic period of development of these birds.

Spreading

The emperor penguin of all penguin species goes farthest to the south. About 300 thousand individuals of the emperor penguin live on ice floes around Antarctica, but migrate to the mainland to mate and hatch eggs.

Until 2009, it was believed that there are 34 of their colonies in the world. As a result of studying satellite images of Antarctica (LandSat Image Mosaic of Antarctica), scientists found 38 traces of droppings in the snow, which corresponds to 38 wintering sites, that is, the same number of colonies.

Food

As a seabird, the emperor penguin hunts exclusively in the ocean. It feeds on fish, squid and krill. Emperor penguins hunt in groups. These groups swim directly into the school of fish and quickly attack the prey in it, pecking at everything that appears in front of them. They eat small prey right in the water, and with more big prey they have to swim to the surface to cut it. When hunting, emperor penguins cover long distances, moving at a speed of 3-6 km / h and sinking to a depth of 567 meters. If necessary, they can spend up to 15 minutes under water. The more light, the deeper they dive, since their main reference point when hunting is sight, not hearing or echo sounder.

Lifestyle and behavior

Colonies of emperor penguins are located in natural shelters: behind cliffs and large ice floes with the obligatory presence of open water areas. The largest colonies number up to ten thousand individuals. Often emperor penguins move lying on their belly, working with their paws and wings.

In order to keep warm, emperor penguins gather in dense groups, inside which the temperature can reach +35 degrees at an ambient temperature of -20 ° C. At the same time, the penguins constantly move from the edge of the group to the center and back, so that everyone is in equal conditions.

Emperor penguins spend about two months a year at sea, the rest of the time is spent on procreation.

The emperor penguin, despite its proud appearance and name, is very careful and even shy bird... Many attempts to ring him were unsuccessful, because when a potential danger approached, such a panic began that the penguins scattered, throwing eggs and chicks.

Reproduction

Emperor penguins begin to breed in May-June, when temperatures in their habitats drop below -50 ° C and winds blow at speeds of up to 200 km / h. Due to such weather conditions, emperor penguin chicks develop very slowly. Emperor penguin nesting colonies are located on coastal ice, occasionally on the continent. The colonies are located in places with the most favorable microclimate, protected from winds blowing from the middle of the mainland at this time of the year, for example, among cliffs, glaciers or in uneven ice. But also open holes, cracks or areas of an ice-free sea should be located near the colony. This is necessary for birds to feed and feed chicks. In severe frosts, penguins huddle in close groups, unlike, for example, Adélie penguins, which warm in pairs in a strictly limited nesting area.

Emperor penguins stay off the coast of Antarctica for about 10 months. The first birds appear at nesting sites at the end of the Antarctic summer (mid-March-mid-April). Here the birds unite in pairs, accompanying this process with screams and frequent fights. This is how a colony is formed. The maximum colony size is 10 thousand birds, the minimum is 300 birds.

Then the birds calm down, stand in pairs calmly during the day, at night they gather in groups, forming a "turtle". In May and early June, the female lays a single egg, rolls it onto its paws with the help of its beak and covers it with a skin fold on the underside of the belly, which is called the brood pouch. The appearance of the egg is accompanied by loud cries of the parents. The mass of an emperor penguin egg is 450 g, size is 12x9 cm; the average egg temperature is 31.4 ° C. After a few hours, the male takes care of the egg, which also has a brood pouch. The female, having been hungry for 45-50 days, goes to feed in the sea. Males, on the other hand, with any deterioration in the weather, gather in dense groups - about 10 birds per 1 m², which helps to preserve the life of future offspring. At the same time, about 4-8% of non-breeding individuals are present in the colony. Duration of incubation of eggs is 62-66 days, sometimes up to 100 days.

Females return from feeding and at the same time chicks appear from eggs. Each female finds her mate by voice. Males, having become hungry for 3 months and having lost 40% of their body weight, transfer eggs or already hatched chicks to them and leave for feeding themselves. The average weight of a hatched chick is 315 g. If the chick hatched before the female returned from the sea, the father feeds him with "milk" - a special juice produced by the stomach and esophagus of the penguin, or rather the esophagial gland. This juice contains a glycolipoprotein substance with about 28% fat, about 60% protein. The chick can survive on this food for several days. For about three weeks, the females feed the chicks with semi-digested food, krill and fish gruel, stored in the voyage by sea, and with the same milk. At the age of five weeks, the emperor penguin chicks no longer fit in the hen bag and go to the so-called "kindergartens", where they spend time tightly pressed against each other. Adult penguins protect them from the attacks of predators - petrels and skuas. Parents find their chick among hundreds of others and feed only him. During this period, the chick can eat up to 6 kg of fish at a time. The nestling period ends in December - January, at the height of the Antarctic summer. The molting period lasts for 30-35 days, during which the birds do not eat anything, sit motionless and lose a lot of weight. Chicks will be able to swim only by January. Then adults and young birds go to sea until next spring.

Natural enemies

Emperor penguins have few enemies, and the natural age of these birds can reach 25 years.

The only predators that kill an adult emperor penguin in or near water are killer whales and leopard seals. On ice floes, it sometimes happens that emperor penguin chicks become prey for skuas or giant petrels. It is from the latter that the greatest danger comes, since it is the cause of the death of up to a third of the emperor penguin chicks. For adults, these birds are not dangerous.

They live only in Antarctica, have a tailcoat and are very clumsy. Is it really? Where do penguins live besides Antarctica? Let's figure it out. Let's immediately determine that the question of where the penguin lives has a broad answer: in the Southern Hemisphere. If you determine the area of its habitat, in this way, then the error is excluded. In addition, it must be borne in mind that there are many penguins: sixteen species. Naturally, they occupy different territories. Let's take a look at the individual types.

Which of them lives in Antarctica?

In the snowy expanses, you can find an emperor penguin. This is the largest species. They reach a height of 120 cm. They swim very well, but do not like to be far from the coast (this applies to all species of these birds). I must say that this is the place where taboos for other birds live. The chinstrap penguin also lives here. Its distinctive feature is a "helmet" on the head. This is a kind of plumage color, which is a dark-colored hat, a leash goes from it to the neck. What is more interesting is not where the penguin of this species lives, but how it reproduces. It turns out that these frost-hardy birds incubate their chicks in the coldest time, warming the eggs with their bodies. Mom and Dad, replacing each other on the most important watch, touchingly take care of the offspring. Most penguins hatch only one chick. The most famous species, Adelie, also lives here. After D "Jurville got acquainted with this bird, Europeans began to be interested in the question of where the penguin lives. The fact is that this Frenchman was the first to describe this amazing species.

Where do penguins live besides Antarctica?

These birds can be found on almost all islands with a temperate climate. King penguins nest on the pieces of sushi formed into nests. They are decorated with orange quotation marks around the neck. A bird adjacent to a royal relative has white stripe on the crown of the head.

She was named Gentoo penguin, although she has nothing to do with these tribes. Although they are found on the Antarctic Peninsula, they prefer a more temperate climate. The Humboldt Penguin lives in Peru. It was discovered and studied by a German geographer, after whose name the bird is named. These birds have a white horseshoe on the back of their heads. I must say that all penguins differ from each other visually, having certain features characteristic only of this species.

Where do white penguins live?

Among the variety of these birds, some are distinguished by greatness, others in size, and still others by extraordinary plumage. So, in the east of New Zealand, the white-winged penguin is found. The upper part of his body is covered with a bluish feather, the lower one is snow-white. And in the area of the Chatham islands a baby nests, whose height does not exceed forty centimeters. This is a blue penguin.

Habitat Africa

Studying where the penguin lives, one cannot but pay attention to the hot continent. Do not wonder! Africa has also sheltered representatives of this feathered variety. A donkey penguin lives there. They called him that for his voice, very similar to the cry of an animal prototype. You can see it only in the northernmost territories of the continent. The screamer does not nest anywhere else. The Galapagos Islands took another look. There is the birthplace of the eponymous representative of the penguins. Moreover, his relatives do not claim these territories. is the full owner of the islands.

Unusual birds

There is whole line penguins that stand out as completely "unconventional" appearance... So, the crested is the owner of the golden "hair". He has many yellowish feathers on his head. He also lives on the islands. An interesting description of his movements. Unlike the rest of his fellows, he does not know how to walk. When walking, it pushes off with both paws, and dives as a "soldier". Therefore, he earned the title of "rock jumper". grew even more hair. She covers him up to the back. Distributed widely: from Antarctica to the islands of the Indian and Atlantic zones of the Southern Ocean. He is similar to the Schlegel penguin. Only under his golden hair they flaunt

white sides. Three species of tufted penguins breed in New Zealand. They vary in size, but are generally similar to each other. On their heads flaunt "Iroquois" made of feathers.

Where can you see birds?

It is already clear that in order to study the habits of various penguins, you need to make a trip to the Southern Hemisphere. Don't get confused. These birds do not live in the Arctic (they have never been seen there). Their distribution area is the area near South Pole... To study this species of birds, you will have to go to Australia, New Zealand or South Africa. And there already to develop a route, according to the goals and objectives defined for the expedition. It will not work to see all the species in a small area. Penguins don't like to travel long distances. They live in a "ancestral" place, determined, so to speak, historically. Most species sheltered New Zealand... There you can also look at the extraordinary yellow-eyed penguin, which was nicknamed magnificent.

Do birds live in captivity?

If you are interested in zoos, then you know: penguins exist and reproduce there perfectly. An interesting fact has been established.

When scientists asked how long penguins live, it turned out that captivity contributes to the length of their century. That is, in nature, birds die faster. Most likely, this is due to difficult living conditions, difficulties in obtaining food, many enemies in natural areas... Now special nurseries are being created, the purpose of which is to recreate the number of those populations that reach a critical level due to human progress. If birds are protected from natural predators, then the survival rate of the offspring increases significantly. So, scientists have calculated that only half of the hatched chicks live up to a year. If you take into account the loss of eggs, then twenty percent. Nevertheless, the species live well and reproduce. Apparently, the main task of man is not to interfere with penguins decorating the planet with their wonderful diversity.