King Penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) are the second largest penguins in the world and closely relate to the Emperor penguin which is the world's largest penguin. Although they are closely related they rarely meet. King penguins prefer the warmer environment
found on sub-Antarctic islands where Emperors prefer the colder Antarctic
continent and islands.
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Range
They have breeding colonies in the sub-Antarctic locations of Marion Island, Iles Crozet, Macquarie Islands, Heard Island and the Falkland Islands. They are not thought of as migratory birds.
Brighter Future
Seal hunters in the 19th and 20th centuries killed King penguins for their oil, skin, eggs and flesh which were used to for food, clothing and fuel. Despite past exploitation when populations came under threat they now seem to have stabilised and increased in some locations and their future now seems brighter.
Description
King penguins are distinctive in appearance with black heads with orange ear patches and a silver grey back. They also have orange colouring on their breasts, longer bills and their bodies are slender, distinguishing them from Emperors who are similar in appearance.
Male and female penguins are difficult to tell apart because of similarities in their physique and looks. To tell them apart it is necessary to look at their patterns of behaviour.
Most species of penguin hop to get around on land but the King penguin runs. In the sea they are in their element using powerful flippers to take them down to depths of around 700 feet on dives which may last over 15 minutes. They hunt the deep waters for squid, krill, plankton and small fish.
Main Predators
Killer whales and leopard seals are the main predators of the King penguin in the sea who often wait in ambush just below the sea surface just off shore for unwary penguins. On land birds such as the Giant petrel, skuas and sheathbills will steal eggs and any young birds unprotected by adults at the smallest opportunity.
Breeding
King penguins form breeding colonies of up to 100,000 individuals on beaches and in valleys preferring to be on level ground close to the sea. Though they are highly social birds living closely to one another during the breeding season they will guard their own space aggressively.
Usually a warning peck or slap with a flipper is enough to see off intruders and full scale battles are avoided. Those penguins that have not reached maturity enough to breed, or are non-breeding, tend to move away and search for food away from the breeding grounds.
Incubation
The breeding season of the King penguins is unique in that it is unusually long. Eggs can be laid at any time between November and April. King penguins do not built nests and males and females share the task of caring for eggs which are incubated on their feet taking around 5 weeks to hatch. This obviously limits their mobility though they do usually manage to avoid Elephant seals which sometimes lumber through the breeding grounds.
The whole process of courtship, laying and incubating eggs and the hatching of chicks often taking longer than 14 months means annual breeding is impossible. Chicks of varying ages are present in the colonies at all times because of this.
Hatching
When chicks finally hatch they have soft dark brown down. They will have to fast between meals for periods while the adults go to sea to feed themselves. Chicks are kept together in nursery groups for warmth and protection through the winter until they are mature enough to fledge in the summer.
© September 28, 2009, zteve t evans
References, Attributions and Further Reading
Originally Published: September 28, 2009 on Helium.com titled Bird facts: King penguin by ztevc t evans
Image: File:King Penguins at Salisbury Plain (5725157316).jpg From Wikimedia Commons - King Penguins at Salisbury Plain - Image Author:Liam Quinn from Canada - Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic licence.
BBC, Nature, Wildlife - King penguin
British Antarctic Survfey, King penguin
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