Facts About the Royal Penguin

Royal penguins, Macquarie Island - Image Author: M. Murphy - Public Domain

The Royal penguin  (Eudyptes schlegeli) breeds on Macquarie Island and the Bishop and Clerk Islands, roughly equidistance between Antarctica, Australia and New Zealand. They form very large, crowded colonies on slopes covered by rough tufts of grass and loose stones.  The largest colony is on Macquarie Island at Hurd Point with an estimated population of 500,000 pairs out of a total world population of 850,000 pairs in 1984-85. There are estimated to be 1,000 pairs on the Bishop and Clerk Islets.  They were once regarded as a subspecies of the Macaroni penguin but today many scientists consider them a separate species in their own right. They are related to the Macaronis and their breeding territories often overlap.  Like the Macaroni penguin, Royals are members of the crested penguins, or genus Eudyptes. Other members of this group are Fiordland, Snares, Erect-crested, and Rockhopper penguins.

Description

Royals do look similar to Macaroni penguins but are a little smaller. The faces of Macaroni penguins are mostly black while Macaronis have mainly white faces with white chins.  Royal penguins can grow to about 28 inches tall and weigh up to 13 pounds. They are not as large as Yellow-eyed, King or Emperor penguins but considerably larger than Little Blue penguins.

Hunting and Diet

 

The Royal penguin’s diet consists mainly of krill, squid and fish caught using pursuit diving at depths of between 50-150 feet. Their dives will not usually last longer than 2 minutes. They are strong, fast swimmers and their webbed feet and flippers power them through the water at up to 20 miles per hour.

Breeding

 

The Royals breed in a synchronized cycle beginning when the males arrive on Macquarie Island to claim nesting sites in late September. The females arrive later in October.

Nests are often scratched out hollows lined with pebble or vegetation in the scree and grass tufts on slopes by the shore where the female lays 2 eggs. Typically with the crested penguin group the first egg will be neglected and not hatch. It usually takes around 30 days to hatch the second egg.

For the next 3 to 4 weeks it is the task of the male to guard the chick until it has grown big enough to form nursery groups with other chicks. These then huddle together for warmth and security while both parents hunt at sea. About late February the chicks fledge, loosing their down and growing adult plumage. They are then ready to hunt in the sea on their own.  Around May after the adults have moulted they will leave Macquarie Island for the open sea roaming the southern ocean between Tasmania and Antarctica until the next breeding cycle.

Threats and Predators

 

For many years Royal penguins were hunted by humans for their oil but now they are protected. Nevertheless they still suffer from human activity such as over fishing and oil spills.  In the sea they are prey to sharks and seals while on land skuas steal eggs and kill chicks. Human introduced species have caused havoc on Macquarie Island which was not helped by further human interference.  On Macquarie Island cats had previously kept the rabbit and rodent population under control though they also preyed on penguins. When cats were removed from the island the population of rabbits multiplied causing so much damage to plant life it could be seen from space. Now the Australian government plans to remove rats, mice, and rabbits from the island.  The International Union for Conservation of Nature have listed Royals as Vulnerable (VU D2) on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and regarded as having a high risk of extinction in the wild.

References, Attributions and Further Reading

 

Image - From Wikimedia Commons - File:RoyalPenguins5.JPG - Royal penguins on Macquarie Island - Image Author: M. Murphy - Public Domain Image

MarineBio Conservation Society - Royal Penguins, (Eudyptes schlegeli)

Royal Penguin from Wikipedia

Facts about the Adelie Penguin

The Adelie penguin (Pygoscelis Adeliae) is the most common of all the Antarctica species of penguin.  They are also the most widely distributed species in the region with estimates showing around 2.5 million pairs may be making their homes in colonies around the Antarctica coast.

 

  Adelie penguins, feeding

Description

 

Standing about 30 inches tall fully grown and weighing 11 pounds’ Adelies are the smallest penguin species on the Antarctica continent. Adelies along with the Gentoo and Chinstrap are one of the brush-tailed species of penguin. They have long tail feather that trail behind when they walk.
Their heads are black with a white ring around the eyes. Black feathers cover most of their short bill which is reddish with a black tip. Their fronts are white and their backs are black. They have often been seen on the snow and ice getting about toboggan style by sliding down hills on their bellies.
Adelies are powerful swimmers and hunt fish and krill moving like torpedoes through the water. Although they can dive up to 500 feet in search of prey, most hunting is done much nearer the surface. They can often be seen jumping straight out of the sea on to land.

Ancestral Breeding Grounds 

 

During winter Adelies stay in groups at sea on icebergs and pack ice. During September and October they head for their breeding grounds to trek several miles over sea ice to their ancestral breeding grounds.  These are typically ice free slopes on headlands, rocky coasts and islands where Adelies form dense raucous breeding colonies. There is fierce competition for the best nesting sites.  These are situated in the centre of the colony and offer greater protection from predators and the elements. Usually it is the older’ more experienced and dominant pairs that win these. 

Nesting

 
Adelies make circular nests on high, well drained sites using pebbles and stones. They will fight each other for building materials, often stealing it from neighbouring nests.
The female lays two eggs around early November. Both male and female Adelies incubate the eggs in turns. While one goes hunting in the sea the other will stay and keep the eggs warm and safe from predators. It usually takes about 35 days for the eggs to hatch, which often happens at about the same time.  The chicks will then be closely nurtured for the next two to three weeks. The parents bring the chicks food which is regurgitated for them. It is not unusual for one chick to be stronger than its sibling winning more food. The chicks grow quickly developing a grey layer of warm down soon becoming nearly as big as their parents. 

Penguin Crèche

 
When they have grown big enough, usually around the third or fourth week, the chicks will join others in nursery, or crèche groups. The chicks huddle together for warmth and protection while their parents are out hunting in the sea.  The parents are kept busy on these feeding trips and they spend much time back and forth to the sea trying to satisfy the chick’s voracious appetites. By the end of March most of the chicks are capable of swimming and the Adelies then return to the sea and pack ice. 

Predators 

 
On land their main predators are skuas and other birds that steal the eggs and kill their chicks. In the sea their main enemy is the leopard seal which lies in ambush for unwary penguins as they enter the water.

References, Attributions and Further Reading 

Antarctic Connection
Adélie Penguin  From Wikipedia 
Image - File:Antarctic, adelie penguins (js) 22.jpg From Wikimedia Commons - Antarctica, Adelie penguins, feeding - Image Author - Jerzy Strzelecki - Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license

Facts About Emperor Penguins

Emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) are flightless birds that live on the freezing Antarctic ice mass and in the surrounding icy sea. They are the largest penguins reaching around 45 inches in height when fully grown and weigh up 88 lbs and have a life span of 15 to 20 years in the wild.

Emperor penguins are only found only in the southern hemisphere and population concentrations are found in Dronning Maud Land, Princess Elizabeth Islands, the Ross Sea and Weddell Sea.

 Emperor Penguins - Author Christopher Michel 

Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Surviving the Cold

They form large colonies which have complex social interactions. Emperors communicate vocally using unique sounds and varying frequencies to help parents and young penguins to recognise and communicate with each other.

Their physiology has evolved to allow them to survive days on the open pack ice and swim and hunt in the perishing cold waters of the Antarctic Ocean. They have around 70 feathers per square inch which form a dense insulating coat to help protect from the cold.

Their bones are solid and they have developed the ability to operate at levels with low oxygen and can slow down their metabolism, even shutting down non-essential body functions for periods without coming to harm.

They cooperate socially by huddling together in a group to escape the wind chill and conserve warmth. The ones in the centre of the group are the warmest and most protected whereas those on the perimeters are exposed to the wind and cold.

To compensate for this emperors take turns moving between the protected centre and on the exposed perimeter. This prevents individuals from over exposure to cold conditions and enhances the chances of group and individual survival.

With long cold winters spent living and even breeding on open ice such cooperation is necessary. They have also been observed cooperating while hunting.

Breeding

Penguins breed in the winter and females lay a single egg and then abandon it leaving the males alone to incubate it. The females then spend the next two months hunting, squid, krill and fish often needing to travel some 50 miles to reach the open ocean, depending on the ice conditions.

Though comical and ungainly on land in the sea emperor penguins are in their element. They can dive deeper than any other bird reaching depths of 1,850 feet and staying submerged for longer than 20 minutes.

Hatching

While the females hunt and eat the males keeps the egg warm. Unlike other birds emperors do not incubate their eggs by sitting on it. Male emperors have a brood pouch, as do females, which is a feathery skin. The egg is balanced on the male's feet and the pouch is used to cover it over and keep it warm. For the next two months the males have no food and are vulnerable to the harsh, unforgiving Antarctic weather while they await the return of the females.

When the females eventually return with full bellies they feed the hatched chicks by regurgitation. This leaves the males free to return to the sea to hunt for food for themselves. The females then protect the chicks with their own brood pouches keeping them warm and safe. A chick would last only a couple of minutes outside of this protective pouch.

Summer

The Antarctic summer begins in December and as the environment gradually warms the pack ice begins breaking up near the breeding site. The young emperors are now grown enough to swim and now have access to the ocean where they can fish independently.

Despite its isolated location the emperor penguin does have predators. Its enemies are leopard seals, walrus, and killer whales.

References, Attributions and Further Reading

Image: File:Emperor Penguins (11240188915).jpg - From Wikimedia Commons - Emperor Penguins - AuthorChristopher Michel  - Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Green Packs, 15 Interesting Facts About the Emperor Penguin

 National Geographic, Emperor penguins

Facts About King Penguins

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. 

King Penguins at Salisbury Plain 
Author Liam Quinn from Canada

 Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic licence

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

King Penguin From Wikipedia

Facts About Chinstrap Penguins

Chinstrap penguins (Pygoscelis antarcticus) are the second most numerous species of penguin after the Macaroni with an estimated seven million pairs. Their populations are found mainly along the coastal region of the South Sandwich Isles, South Shetlands and the South Orkneys in vast concentrated colonies. They also have smaller breeding colonies south of New Zealand on the Balleny Islands.

Chinstrap penguins tobogganing -  Author: Liam Quinn from Canada-
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

Description

Their distinguishing feature is a narrow ring of black feathers running underneath the cheeks and chin, from ear to ear like a strap from which it takes its name. This strap distinguishes them from Gentoos and the Adelie penguin.
Chinstraps are smaller than Emperor, King and Gentoo penguins but bigger than Little Blue or Fairy penguins. They stand about 27 inches tall and weigh about nine pounds.

Behaviour

Chinstraps communicate vocally and by using rituals which are performed by gesturing, bowing, preening, calling, head and flipper waving. Aggression may be displayed by pointing, staring and charging.

Diet

The Chinstrap hunts for small fish, krill, and crustaceans. They hunt between the ice packs near the shorelines, though there have been sightings of Chinstraps in the open ocean.
Generally they feed close by their breeding colonies using pursuit diving to catch prey in the hours between midnight and noon. They dive to depths of about two hundred feet lasting less than one minute and use flippers to reach speed up to 20 miles and hour.

Mobility

Chinstraps are ungainly on land and will often clamber out of the sea and up inclines using all four limbs. They can also jump considerable distances to reach safe footholds and are known to lie on their stomachs using their flippers and feet to power along like a toboggan.

Breeding

Chinstraps will often prefer lofty sites for nesting that may become free of snow quicker providing a longer period of time to nurture their chicks. In November or December they build nests from stones on land where the female lays two eggs. They share the incubation duties until the eggs hatch in around seven or eight weeks.

Other penguin species give preference to the strongest chick but Chinstraps treat both chicks the same. Some experts think that this may be because of access to the sea being restricted by ice and denying adults the chance to hunt may affect the survival rate of chicks.

The main enemy of Chinstraps are the Leopard seal in the sea and Brown Skuas and Sheathbills on land.

References, Attributions and Further Reading

© September 28, 2009 zteve t evans

File:Chinstrap Penguins tobogganing (6020388906).jpg From Wikimedia Commons - Chinstrap penguins tobogganing -  Author:Liam Quinn from Canada - Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

 British Antarctic Survey, Chinstrap penguin

Chinstrap Penguin From Wikipedia

BBC, Nature, Wildlife, Chinstrap penguin

Facts About Little Blue Penguins

Little Blue penguins (Eudyptula minor) are also known as Fairy penguins, or Blue penguins. Their Maori name is Kororā. They are only found in the wild in the Southern Hemisphere along the coasts of New Zealand, Tasmania and Australia. Standing at between 16 and 17 inches and weighing around 2 pounds fully grown they are small indeed compared to Emperor or King penguins

 Little Blue penguin - Image  Author Sinead Friel

 Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

In fact, they are the smallest species of penguin in the world which is why some call them Fairy penguins. Their plumage is of grey blue feathers which is why they are also called Little Blues or Blues by others.

The White-flippered Penguin

The White-flippered penguin is considered to be a subspecies of the Little Blue penguin and limited to areas in or around New Zealand's Motunau Island, Banks Peninsula and the North Canterbury coast. The distinguishing feature between the two is that the flippers of the White-flippered penguin have a white stripe around the edge which is absent from the Little Blues.

Hunting

Little Blue penguins like to spend most of the day hunting for food in the sea preferring shallow waters by the coastline where they congregate together. When dusk begins to fall they return noisily to their colonies where they live in rock crevices or burrows. At dawn they will return again to the sea making considerable noise along the way. They hunt for squid, anchovies, plankton, pilchards near to the shore and dive to about 30 feet deep to take sea horses, and crustaceans from the seabed swallowing their prey whole.

Breeding

In June females are met by males performing raucous and intricate courting rituals. Between June and August is the height of the egg laying period and the female produces two eggs which will need incubating for about five weeks.

Little Blues will use rock crevices or dig long burrows to use as nest and to lay eggs in. They mate for life and both male and female take it in turns to incubate the eggs and look after the chicks that are constantly attended to during their first three weeks of life.

In the following five weeks the adult birds will visit only to bring them regurgitated food. Following this period they then leave the nest, taking naturally to the sea, and catch food for themselves.

Predators

They have an average life expectancy of around seven years in the wild. In the sea their main predators are Lion, Fur, and Leopard seals, sharks and Killer whales. On land their main threats come from Gulls, Sea Eagles and man-made hazards such as plastic, oil spills, net fishing, getting run over on roads, and the loss of breeding grounds. They also are threatened by introduced species such as snake, foxes, feral cats, dogs, and rats, lizards and snakes that take eggs and kill chicks.

References, Attributions and Further Reading

Image - File:Eudyptula minor -Featherdale Wildlife Park, Doonside, New South Wales, Australia-8a.jpg from Wikimedia Commons - Image AuthorSinead Friel  Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Little Penguin From Wikipedia

Department of Conservation, Te Papa Atawtbai - Little penguin/kororā

Facts About Gentoo Penguins

Of all the penguin species the Gentoo (pronounced, jen too) penguin is the most geographically widespread. The largest populations are found in colonies on the Antarctic Peninsula and sub-antarctic islands though they are not as numerous as other species on these islands such as the Macaroni penguin.

 Gentoo penguins - 

 Author Liam Quinn from Canada -
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic licence.

The Kerguelen Islands, South Georgia and especially the Falkland Islands all have significantly large breeding colonies. Gentoos belong to the same brush-tailed genus of Pygoscelis as Adelie and Chinstrap penguins.  Over the last century they have fallen victim to human activities losing numbers and habitat. However due to recent conservation efforts their numbers appear to be more stable.

Distinguishing Features

Gentoos are smaller than Emperor and King penguins but larger than their cousins the Adelie and Chinstrap penguins. Gentoos can be recognised from Chinstraps and Adelies by their brightly coloured orangey-red bills and striking patches of white behind their eyes.  As they walk their tail feathers stick out stiffly and when in the sea they are easy to see as their tails stick up like a flag.

Diet

Gentoos like to hunt close to the breeding colony which helps them to feed their chicks easily. They hunt mainly fish, krill and squid with males seeming to prefer to eat fish while females show preference for krill.

Gentoos are known to cooperate with each other while hunting, gathering in their hundreds to form rafts to help catch prey. Although they can dive to about 330 feet most prey is caught using pursuit dives lasting about 30 seconds.

Breeding

Gentoos build round nests on uninhabited, rocky shores out of what ever materials can be found though they appear to prefer vegetation and grass. They will fight over stones and steal material from other nests.

The female lays two eggs in September or October. Usually the second egg is laid three days after the first and is often smaller. Both parents care for the eggs until they hatch about 5 weeks after.
The availability of food and the presence of predators will determine the survival of the chicks. Preferential treatment will be given to the strongest chick if food is scarce and the weakest may well not survive.

After about a month the chick will leave the nest to join creche or nursery group for warmth and protection while its parents search for food. When the chicks have grown their adult plumage usually after about 3 months they will be ready to leave the creche and head for the sea and hunt independently.

Predators

Birds such as falcons, gulls and sheathbills will steal eggs or prey upon chicks and young birds on land and elephant seal crush nests and eggs as they lumber along. In the sea Leopard seals, Sea Lions and Killer whales are their main threat.

References, Attributions and Further Reading

File:Gentoo Penguins coming ashore (5607601419).jpg

From Wikimedia Commons

 Gentoo penguins -  Author Liam Quinn from Canada - Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic licence.

Gentoo Penguin from Wikipedia

International Penguin Conservation Work Group

National Geographic - Gentoo Penguins, Pygoscelis papua