News and Society, Nature
Interesting facts about penguins. Antarctic penguins: description
In Europe, funny birds in black "tailcoats" became known in the early sixteenth century thanks to the Mariners from Portugal. Interesting facts about penguins immediately evoked sympathy for Europeans.
Types of Antarctic penguins
This family of flightless birds includes about twenty species. People know many interesting facts about penguins. Representatives of each species have their own curious features that distinguish them from each other.
Magellanic and magnificent penguins belong to one of the smallest species on the verge of extinction.
Adele is the most common species of the whole family. The name of the bird was named after the locality on which it was first observed - Adelie Land.
The Galapagos are the northern representatives of the genus. They live very close to the equator in the Galapagos archipelago at high temperatures, not peculiar to penguins. These simpatians, unfortunately, may soon disappear from the face of the Earth, they are threatened with extinction.
Papuan - this species stands in third place in size after the imperial and royal penguins.
Stone - these representatives of the family are aggressive and loud, they are distinguished by the most vicious temper.
Imperial - the most famous species in the whole world. In addition to the large sizes, they stand out among their brethren with extraordinary tolerance of the strongest frosts. Cold to these birds do not care. They are found even on the mainland of Antarctica.
It is very sad to note the fact that in our time most species are threatened with extinction.
The natural habitat of penguins
Penguins in nature live only in the southern hemisphere of the planet. Their habitats are Antarctica, Australia, South America, South Africa and New Zealand. Birds are found in the tropics, but this does not mean that the local water bodies are mostly cold. The Galapagos Islands are the warmest place of inhabiting birds. The largest populations of penguins are observed on the coast of Antarctica, near islands and huge ice floes.
Description
Antarctic penguins, depending on the species category, differ significantly in weight, height and appearance. Their weight can vary from 1 to 45-50 kg, and the height ranges from 30 cm to 1 m, although individual individuals are much higher and more massive. It depends on the climate in which the birds live. In those places where the air temperature is lower, the largest species live, the imperial penguin takes precedence in this list. The smallest penguins live in New Zealand and Australia, called this species "small penguins". Their weight is only about one kilogram.
The body of birds is streamlined in shape, due to this they can swim freely and deftly under water. They have musculature, the mass of muscles is about 30% of the total body weight. Bones are dense without cavities, this distinguishes penguins from flying birds, in which the bones are tubular and light.
Three layers of numerous waterproof "hairs" - this feathers handsome men in "tailcoats." The air between feathers warms the body while swimming in cold water. During moult, feathering is completely changed. During the change of clothes, birds can not swim, so they are forced to remain hungry until they "change" into new feathers. It is worth noting that the penguins do not freeze because of a three-centimeter layer of fat.
What do penguins eat?
Being under water, nice divers see very well, much better than on land. When asked what the penguins eat, the answer is simple - fish. The schooling species of these marine inhabitants are the basis of the diet. Sardine, horse mackerel, anchovy - a favorite food of birds. This diet is diluted with squid and krill.
During the day, the penguin dives under the water from 300 to 900 times to get his food. During the incubation of eggs and molting, when there is no possibility to go fishing, birds can lose half of the total mass.
Lifestyle in the wild
A group of penguins communicate with each other by shouting, and each species has its own sounds. Spectacled penguins reproduce screams that resemble donkeys.
As mentioned before, these cute creatures can not fly, although they have wings, but they swim and dive perfectly, and in extremely cold conditions. Underwater, they are able to move at a speed of 10 km / h, but this is only on average. At short distances the Papuan penguin, which is notable for its speed, can reach speeds of up to 30-35 km / h.
Familiar to snorkeling birds can be under water without a break 1-1.5 minutes, while submerging at a depth of 15-20 meters. But again there is among all kinds of diver-record-holders. The Imperial Penguin simply sinks to a depth of about 500 meters and spends there until 15-18 minutes.
The birds jump out of the water, the height of their jump can be up to 2 meters, due to this they are immediately on land. Being on the shore, these excellent swimmers are very clumsy. They walk slowly, swaying from side to side, in part this way penguins save heat and energy. There, where there is at least the slightest ice slide, the birds fall on their stomachs and slide down like a sled.
Reproduction
During the breeding season, penguins for breeding chicks gather in large colonies. The mating season for different species takes place at different times. To incubate eggs, birds build nests from what is "at hand". It can be stones, grass, leaves. The exception is the imperial and royal penguins, they place the eggs in a special crease on the stomach. There they are before the advent of chicks.
The incubation period lasts from one to two months. If there were initially two eggs and two chicks hatched, then the parents give all their attention to their first child, and the second kid, as a result of such an unjust relationship between father and mother, may die of hunger, which is what happens in most cases.
Natural enemies
The life of penguins is constantly endangered. In nature, these lovely creatures of enemies are abundant, not counting the destructive activity of the person, which most influences the reduction of the population of Antarctic birds.
The most difficult is for small penguins, about 50% of which die in the first year of their life. The main enemies of the chicks are predatory birds, for example the giant southern petrel. In addition to the danger of dying from claws, kids are constantly threatened with death by starvation.
The natural enemies of adult penguins are sea predators. These include sharks, killer whales, seals, leopards and sea lions. About 6-10% of birds die as a result of collision with these animals.
To the above, you can add that the wild dogs that people threw are also very dangerous for settlements of slow-moving creatures that can not escape from enemies on land. In the twentieth century, entire colonies of penguins were destroyed by wild dogs on the Galapagos Islands.
Interesting facts about penguins
In the colonies of these non-flying birds of different species, there is a lot of curious. Some interesting facts about penguins will be presented to your attention:
• Real "kindergartens" are created in penguin colonies. Nestlings aged 4-6 weeks gather in one place, and to observe the babies leave several adult "educators". Parents, therefore, can devote all their spare time to finding food for themselves and their chicks.
• Watching the penguins, you can see that when they come to the shore, at first they just stand looking at each other, diving for a long time no one dares. After a while there is one pioneer who boldly jumps into the water. Behind him immediately all the others rush. This behavior is called the "penguin effect". By the way, among people, too, often the same situations are created.
• Birds can drink salty sea water, as they have special glands that remove excess salt from the body.
• During warming, so as not to fall under the ice, the penguins move, sliding on the stomach, pushing at the same time with paws and wings.
Similar articles
Trending Now