Crested penguin. The big penguin is an important bird with luxurious “eyebrows. Antarctic or south polar penguin

There are about 18 varieties of penguins, and each one is unique. One lives where there is ice and snow, and the other lives in hot latitudes, having its own characteristics. One is very tiny, weighing no more than a kilogram, and the other is a real giant weighing 40 kg and growing more than a meter. The characters and preferences of these birds are also quite different. Prostozoo lifts the curtain on the diversity of penguin species.

blue penguin

The blue penguin is also called the small penguin, because it is the smallest and, in combination, one of the most numerous. It is also called the elf penguin, possibly because of the blue tint on its back. Little penguins have chosen their habitat New Zealand and the coast of South Australia.

The growth of this penguin fluctuates within 40 centimeters. The baby weighs about one kilogram. Little penguins build their nests in caves or crevices. They are fond of organizing penguin parades: coming out of the water at sunset, small penguins form groups of 10-40 pieces and march in formation to their nests, shouting to their relatives and children. Blue penguins are very loyal - with the chosen partner, they can stay together for the rest of their lives.

It is also called the northern little penguin, as it is the best-known subspecies of the little penguin. It differs from other species in white stripes at both ends of the wings.

White-winged penguins live in the Canterbury region of New Zealand. They are mostly active at night, unlike other penguin species. They all go out to hunt together, but only when it gets completely dark. In search of food, they can swim away from the coast at a distance of up to 75 kilometers.

Source: nzbirdsonline.org.nz

crested penguin

Also rock, rock, or rockhopper penguin. This is a "cliff jumping penguin", because his favorite way to enter the water is to jump into it from a cliff "soldier", while other penguins prefer to dive.

This proud handsome man lives on most of the islands temperate zone Southern Ocean. Its head is adorned with beautiful yellow feathers. But the temper of the stone penguin is scandalous - if you make him angry, he will make a loud noise and even attack.

Source: www.megasite.ucoz.es

This is the most famous and unique type of penguin in color. It got its name in honor of the wife of the explorer Dumont-Durville.

The Adélie penguin builds its nest from pebbles that it can steal from careless neighbors. Settles on the coast of Antarctica and nearby islands.

In winter, Adélie penguins live on floating ice floes 700 kilometers from the coast, and in the polar summer they nest on islands near Antarctica. At the beginning of nesting, the air temperature can reach -40°C.

Source: http://penguins2009.narod.ru/

Antarctic or south polar penguin

A relative of the Adélie penguins. Very few in comparison with other species - the number of individuals reaches 7.5 thousand pairs. A distinctive feature of the Antarctic penguin is a black stripe along the neck from ear to ear and a black cap on the head.

They are wonderful swimmers, diving to a depth of 250 meters, and also swim 1000 kilometers into the sea. Habitat - Antarctic and subantarctic islands.

Source: http://pingvins.com/

Galapagos penguin

A distinctive feature of the Galapagos penguins is their habitat. And they live in warm Galapagos Islands, where the air temperature reaches 28°C, and water 24°C. This is the only penguin species found in the tropics.

These penguins have a black head, and go from eye to eye down the neck. white stripe. The underside of the beak and the skin around the eyes are pink-yellow. There are very few Galapagos penguins - about 6,000 pairs. Unlike other species, this penguin has many enemies due to its small stature and habitat.

Source: http://www.awaytravel.ru/

The golden-haired or golden-haired penguin is similar to the crested penguin, but the golden-haired yellow feathers on its head are larger. English title of this species is translated as penguin-dandy. Their habitat is very extensive and has about 200 places.

Interestingly, the body weight of an adult penguin almost doubles in different time year and depending on the periods of molting and breeding. Colonies of the golden-haired penguin are really huge - up to 2.5 million birds. This is the most numerous species– more than 11.5 million pairs.

Although this penguin was called "big", it can not be called large.

And if you compare it with emperor penguin, whose height is 120 cm and weight 30 kg, then he may even seem like a baby. After all, the growth of this penguin is only 55 cm, and the weight is about 4 kilograms.

Apparently due to such a discrepancy between the name and appearance this penguin is more often called the Snar golden-crested. Another name is the crested Snar penguin. Both indicate that this species belongs to the Snar Islands archipelago. These penguins really live only here, in a small area, the area of ​​\u200b\u200bwhich does not exceed 3.3 square kilometers.

Although the place is small, it has many advantages for its inhabitants. First, there are no predators. Secondly, many bushes and trees grow under which penguins can nest. An equally positive point is that the archipelago is a marine reserve, so there is practically no human intervention in the life of penguins. According to biologists, from thirty to thirty-three thousand pairs of penguins of this species nest in this small area.

big penguin: an exquisite combination of black "tailcoat" with yellow eyebrows.

hallmark big penguin are tufted yellow color above his eyes. Like other penguin species, its back, head, wings and tail are black, and its belly is white. The Snar penguin has a fairly powerful beak, the base of which is white or pink. It is necessary to distinguish the Snar penguin from the Victoria penguin, since the former has black cheeks, while the latter has white feathers growing on them. Males and females do not differ in appearance from each other, except that males are slightly taller and heavier.

The behavior of these penguins is interesting to watch because it is very funny, and even when they show aggression. For example, if a penguin notices an uninvited guest on its site, then it spreads its wings wide, starts stomping, and all this is accompanied by grumbling. Thus, the Snar penguin tries to scare the enemy. In some cases, he performs the same actions without sound, perhaps it seems to him that he looks even scarier that way.

And in relation to their partners, crested Snar penguins are very polite. Returning from feeding, they begin to bow to each other, the female is the first, and the male answers her bows. If the spouse was absent somewhere for a long time, then, having returned, he performs another ritual: he looks the female in the eyes, after which he bows his head and lets out a loud cry, while stretching his beak. The female in response repeats all his actions. Apparently, in this way they recognize spouses in each other. And if the partners are very bored, then they shorten the ceremony and trumpet and bow at the same time.

Males, while courting their chosen one, stretch to their full height, inflate their chest, and spread their wings, thereby trying to visually add to themselves overweight and centimeters. In their opinion, this is how they are more likely to please the female.

Listen to the voice of the big penguin

own nests big penguins set up on the ground. To do this, they first dig a small hole, and then line its bottom with small branches. The female lays two eggs, and she does this with a break of 3-4 days. The first egg is noticeably smaller than the second. Both parents incubate them alternately. While one of them warms the masonry, the second brings him food. Penguins are born in 32-35 days. However, one of the kids, unfortunately, will be destined to die due to adverse weather conditions.

The crested penguin (rock-climbing penguin, Eudyptes chrysocome) is a species of swimming bird of the crested penguin genus; includes three subspecies: southern crested penguin(Eudyptes chrysocome chrysocome), eastern crested penguin (Eudyptes chrysocome filholi), northern crested penguin (Eudyptes chrysocome moseleyi). The southern subspecies is found in the Falkland Islands, on the coast of Argentina and Chile; eastern - on the islands of Marion, Prince Edward, Crozet, Kerguelen, Heard, McDonald, Macquarie, Campbell and on the Antipodes Islands; northern - on the islands of Tristan da Cunha, Saint-Paul and the Amsterdam Islands.

This is a rather small penguin: height 55-62 cm, weight 2-3 kg. The coloration is common for penguins: blue-black back and white belly. The chicks are black and gray in the back and white in the front. On the head of adult birds there are narrow yellow "eyebrows" with tassels, especially long and shaggy in birds of the Tristan da Cunha islands. The eyes are reddish, the short convex beak is red-brown. Paws are pink, short, located behind the body, closer to the back. The plumage is waterproof, the feathers are 2.9 cm long.

Crested penguins usually form large colonies using rock ledges, lava plateaus, and large gravelly coastal slopes; often adjacent to albatrosses. On islands with a developed soil layer, they dig nesting niches and real burrows, usually under high hummocks formed by perennial grasses. Nests are lined with pebbles, grass, small bones. Usually one nest is used for several years.

Crested penguins need fresh water therefore, they often nest near fresh water bodies and springs. They start breeding in September-October in the north, in November-December in the south of the range. Crested penguins are monogamous. Pairs are formed on long years. Usually the female lays two, rarely three eggs with a break of 4-5 days. The first egg weighs about 80 g, the second about 10 g. Usually only one chick hatches. In the populations of northern and eastern crested penguins, there are practically no two chicks in a brood. In southern crested penguins, under favorable conditions, both chicks can survive. Having laid an egg, the female passes it to the male, who hides it in a fold on her stomach and does not part with it during the entire incubation period, which lasts 4 months. Having reached 10 weeks of age, the young molt and become similar to adults.

Climbing penguins feed on krill, other crustaceans, small fish. During the incubation of eggs, the male does not leave the land, sometimes the female replaces him, sometimes he incubates all the time of incubation. It also warms newborns, and if the female does not appear on time with a portion of food, the male feeds the chick with "penguin" milk, which is formed as a result of digestion of food.

Crested penguins are rarely seen alone. Their colonies are numerous. Despite their small size, crested penguins are aggressive. The birds are making noise loud screams. At the end of summer, crested penguins leave the colony and spend 3-5 months at sea gaining fat.

Penguins attract tourists to the Falkland Islands and are the main attraction of the islands. Uncontrolled fishing deprives penguins of food, another factor that hinders the growth of the population is water pollution by oil and its waste. On some islands, crested penguins suffer from pigs, dogs, and foxes introduced by humans. Crested penguins have a lifespan of 10 to 25 years.

IUCN 3.1 Vulnerable:

Rock climbing penguin (crested)(lat. Eudyptes chrysocome listen)) is a bird of the penguin family.

Description

Penguin (length 55-62 cm, weight from 2 to 3 kg (on average 2.3 - 2.7 kg), with narrow yellow "eyebrows" ending in tassels. Distributed on the islands of the Subantarctic, Tasmania and Tierra del Fuego. And also lives on the mainland South America. These are the northernmost of all penguins inhabiting the subantarctic zone.

The paws of climbers are short, located behind the body, closer to the back. The plumage is waterproof, the feathers are 2.9 cm long, the color is white below and bluish-black above. There are bright yellow feathers on the head, growing from the eyebrows in all directions, and black feathers on the top of the head. The wings are strong, narrow, similar to flippers. The eyes are tiny.

Spreading

The population size - about 3.5 million pairs, is considered stable.

Lifestyle

Climbers usually form very large colonies, often using rock ledges, lava plateaus, coarse gravelly coastal slopes. On islands with a developed soil layer, they dig nesting niches and real burrows, usually under high hummocks formed by perennial grasses. Nests are lined with pebbles, grass, small bones.

Rock climbing penguins feed on krill and other crustaceans. They find their food during the daytime swimming in the sea.

Climbing penguins are social birds and are rarely seen alone. Their colonies are very numerous and, as a result, very aggressive. Birds behave noisily, making loud calls to call partners or announce that the territory is occupied. Another gesture - shaking the head, feathered with yellow - also serves to attract attention. When resting, penguins hide their heads under their wings. At the end of summer, climbing penguins leave the colony and spend 3-5 months at sea fattening. Their wings resemble flippers and help swim well, but are not adapted for flight. Climbing penguins live on coastal cliffs, adhering to thickets of tall grass, where they dig holes and make nests. They attract a lot of tourists to the Falklands and are the main attraction of the islands. Uncontrolled fishing deprives penguins of food, another factor holding back population growth is water pollution by oil and its waste.

The life span of climbing penguins is 10 years.

reproduction

Climbers start breeding in September-October in the north, in November-December in the south of the range. Partners call each other with a characteristic cry, signaling their readiness to mate. Pairs are formed for many years. Sometimes there are 3 eggs in a clutch. And the male incubates them. During incubation, he does not leave the land, sometimes the female substitutes. It also warms newborns, and if the female does not appear on time with a portion of food, the male feeds the chick with "penguin" milk, which is formed as a result of digestion of food. The first egg is 20-50% smaller than the subsequent ones, it usually dies, although in the event that it falls into favorable conditions, a full-fledged penguin hatches from it. Having laid an egg, the female passes it to the male, who hides it in a fold on her stomach and does not part with it during the entire incubation period, which lasts 4 months. The downy outfit is black and gray, with a white belly. Having reached 10 weeks of age, the young molt and become similar to adults. On some islands, crested penguins suffer from pigs, dogs, and foxes introduced by humans.

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Notes

An excerpt characterizing the Crested Penguin

Dron, who came, confirmed Dunyasha's words: the peasants came at the order of the princess.
“Yes, I never called them,” said the princess. You must have told them wrong. I only told you to give them the bread.
Drone sighed without answering.
“If you tell them to, they will leave,” he said.
“No, no, I will go to them,” said Princess Mary
Despite Dunyasha's and the nurse's dissuades, Princess Mary went out onto the porch. Dron, Dunyasha, the nurse, and Mikhail Ivanovich followed her. “They probably think that I am offering them bread so that they remain in their places, and I myself will leave, leaving them to the mercy of the French,” thought Princess Mary. - I will promise them a month in an apartment near Moscow; I am sure that Andre would have done even more in my place, ”she thought, approaching the crowd in the pasture near the barn at dusk.
The crowd, crowding together, began to stir, and hats were quickly taken off. Princess Mary, lowering her eyes and tangling her feet in her dress, went close to them. So many varied eyes, old and young, were fixed on her, and there were so many different persons that Princess Mary did not see a single face and, feeling the need to suddenly talk to everyone, did not know what to do. But again, the realization that she was the representative of her father and brother gave her strength, and she boldly began her speech.
“I am very glad that you have come,” Princess Marya began, without raising her eyes and feeling how quickly and strongly her heart was beating. “Dronushka told me that the war ruined you. This is our common grief, and I will spare nothing to help you. I am going myself, because it is already dangerous here and the enemy is close ... because ... I give you everything, my friends, and I ask you to take everything, all our bread, so that you do not have a need. And if you were told that I am giving you bread so that you stay here, then this is not true. On the contrary, I ask you to leave with all your property to our suburban area, and there I take upon myself and promise you that you will not be in need. You will be given houses and bread. The princess stopped. Only sighs could be heard in the crowd.
“I am not doing this on my own,” the princess continued, “I am doing this in the name of my late father, who was a good master to you, and for my brother and his son.
She stopped again. No one interrupted her silence.
- Woe is our common, and we will divide everything in half. Everything that is mine is yours,” she said, looking around at the faces that stood before her.
All eyes looked at her with the same expression, the meaning of which she could not understand. Whether it was curiosity, devotion, gratitude, or fear and distrust, the expression on all faces was the same.
“Many are pleased with your grace, only we don’t have to take the master’s bread,” said a voice from behind.
- Yes, why? - said the princess.
No one answered, and Princess Mary, looking around the crowd, noticed that now all the eyes she met immediately dropped.
- Why don't you want to? she asked again.
Nobody answered.
Princess Marya felt heavy from this silence; she tried to catch someone's gaze.
- Why don't you speak? - the princess turned to the old old man, who, leaning on a stick, stood in front of her. Tell me if you think you need anything else. I'll do anything," she said, catching his eye. But he, as if angry at this, lowered his head completely and said:
- Why agree, we do not need bread.
- Well, should we quit everything? Do not agree. Disagree... There is no our consent. We pity you, but there is no our consent. Go on your own, alone…” was heard in the crowd from different sides. And again the same expression appeared on all the faces of this crowd, and now it was probably no longer an expression of curiosity and gratitude, but an expression of embittered determination.
“Yes, you didn’t understand, right,” said Princess Marya with a sad smile. Why don't you want to go? I promise to accommodate you, feed you. And here the enemy will ruin you ...

Penguins (Spheniscidae) belong to the flightless family sea ​​birds, this is the only family in the penguin order. It has 18 species, all of them are beautiful and unusual in their own way. For example, the crested penguin of Antarctica is truly a miracle created by nature. After all, nature is the most talented sculptor and artist who breathes life into his creations!

The large crested penguin (Fudyptes sclateri) is a very interesting creature. The name "penguin" comes from the Welsh pen, which means "head", and from the word "gwin", which means "white". Adding these two words, we get "penguin", for sweetness the letter "e" was changed to "i". Although there is another version of the origin of this name. The sailors nicknamed the funny tumblers the word "pinguis", translated from Latin - "fat". Such a nickname is quite consistent with their physique.

Crested penguin: description

These clumsy creatures are relatively small in size. The body length of a penguin is on average 60-65 cm, the weight of birds is about 2.5-3.5 kg. But it should be noted that before molting fat women gain much more, it happens that up to 6.5-7 kg. Males can be visually, even from a distance, distinguished from females by a much larger size.

Head, top part throats and cheeks of penguins are black. Two yellowish tufts of feathers, starting from the nostrils, stretch through the dark red eyes and run back along the crown. Thanks to the tufts, they are called "crested penguins", these handsome men differ from other species in the ability to move their feather decoration. The top of the body is black in color, casts blue, the bottom is contrasting white. The wings-fins are bluish-black with a white border around the edges. The beak is thin and rather long, brownish, closer to orange.

Where do large crested penguins live in nature?

Cute crested penguins are found in nature near New Zealand and Australia. They prefer to arrange their nests on Antipodes, Auckland and Campbell. During winter months they do not leave the cold waters of Antarctica.

They nest in large colonies with other crested penguin species. The islands favored by land birds are rocky, with many caves in the rocks suitable for building nests for penguins. It is in such caves that future feathered parents carefully build places for hatching offspring.

reproduction

As mentioned earlier, crested penguins breed in large colonies. In the place where it is planned to arrange nesting (a flat section of rocks no higher than 65-70 m above sea level), males come first, after two weeks females join them. During the reunion, fights between males begin, as the beginning of the mating season is celebrated annually in the penguin kingdom.

When passions subside, married couples start building a nest. First, the female, having picked up a place, removes garbage from it with her paws. The male is given the "male" hard work, he brings material consisting of stones, grass and mud. From all this, the future father of the family lays out a nest.

In early October, egg laying begins, which lasts 3-4 days. Mother penguin lays two eggs, one small and one large. During laying, the female does not eat anything. When the eggs are already in the nest, incubation begins for 35 days. The first egg in 98 percent of cases disappears, and the remaining second hatches.

After sitting for 2-3 days on eggs, future mom leaves to look for food, the male remains on duty in the nest, all responsibility falls on him. For 3-4 weeks, a caring father does not eat anything, he cannot leave the nest, otherwise the eggs will freeze. So the poor fellow has to fast, waiting for the return of the female. During this time, the handsome crested man is losing weight, if his wife does not return on time, he may die of hunger.

After this period, if the female's trip ends successfully, she returns to her husband and the hatched chick (very rarely there are two chicks). The male leaves the family and goes off in search of food to gain back the weight he has lost. Crested mother penguin feeds babies by regurgitating food, keeps them warm and cares for them. In February, the fledgling grown babies leave the shelter in which they were born.

Moult

A very entertaining moment in the life of penguins is molting, this phenomenon is very long, and they are preparing for it already in February. After the chicks leave the nest, adult birds leave and leave to feed before molting in the sea for a whole month. After this period, the families get together again, this leads to mating games. At this time, a real molt begins, which lasts 28 days. It is with penguins during molting that they are inseparable and spend all the time near the nest. In mid-April, the renewal of feathers is completed, and the crested penguins go to sea again.

How do they talk?

Penguins are birds, albeit terrestrial. These fat women know how to sing, especially during the period of courting a female, if, of course, these mating "serenades" can be called songs. The penguin's voice is more like a scream. Them mating games accompanied by low sounds that are repeated evenly. Black and white singers “sing” in this way only during the day; at night, their screams will never be heard.

How do they fight?

Male penguins, like all males, sometimes like to put up fights. Most often this happens because of females or when you have to protect the nest from uninvited guests. Aggressive rivals stretch their heads vertically with a belligerent crest raised and swing it from side to side. Before the start of the fight, the males begin to "trumpet", while bowing and twitching their shoulders.

During a fight, the penguins bow their heads with a grunt, hit each other with their beaks and fins-wings. Sometimes bites are even used if the combatants are too engrossed in the battle.

A very crested penguin, the photo confirms this, because not all nature lovers can afford to see these creatures in natural environment a habitat. There is scientific evidence that over the past 45 years, the number of penguins has decreased by almost half. This species is listed in the Red Book!