Habitat for penguins. Penguins - unusual birds What bird does a penguin look like

They love the cold and live in the south. They have wings, but they cannot fly. Sailors called them "strange geese". Have you already guessed who we are?

Penguins are birds that spend half of their lives in the water. live in southern hemisphere. Vasco da Gama and his sailors said they were as big as geese. Travelers saw penguins in South Africa in 1499. Antonio Pigafetta called them "strange geese". He accompanied Magellan on a round-the-world expedition, and in 1520 sailors saw black and white birds off the coast. South America.

We tell more boring facts about representatives of the penguin family. The places where they live, and their differences from each other. We also share travel options to where most of these people live. amazing birds. In Antarctica, you can meet penguins in person.

Why are penguins called that?

There are three versions of how the word "penguin" came about.

The first says that the word combines the Welsh pen (head) and gwyn (white). So called wingless auks. This is an extinct species that lived in eastern shores Canada. When explorers in the Southern Hemisphere encountered black birds with a white belly that looked like great auks, they named them penguins.

According to the second assumption, the penguins got their name from English word pinwing. In translation, this means "wing-hairpin."

The third version is perhaps the most offensive. According to this version, the birds began to be so called from the Latin adjective pinguis, which means "fat".

Why do penguins stand up straight and swim but not fly?

Among all birds, the penguin is the only one who can swim. But it cannot fly. And of the birds, only penguins walk standing up.

Webbed feet, which are located at the very end of the body, are the reason why penguins stand upright. Also, thanks to them, penguins move quickly under water. Their wings have evolved into flippers, and help the birds to be strong and dexterous swimmers. In water, they rotate like a screw in the shoulder joint. Record holders in swimming among these birds are gentoo penguins. They develop speed in cold water about thirty kilometers per hour.

Interesting fact: The short tail helps the penguins keep their balance. The bird can lean on it as a stand. And yet, on land, penguins are very clumsy. If he throws his head back sharply, he may fall on his back. The bird can no longer rise on its own. Therefore, an interesting profession appeared at the polar stations - a penguin lifter. Such workers help seabirds roll over and stand up.

How long do penguins live?

In nature, the life expectancy of these birds is 15-25 years. In captivity, with good maintenance, the age can reach 30 years.

Do penguins have enemies?

Penguins suffer from seagulls that peck at their eggs. And skuas often kidnap chicks. killer whales and seals hunting penguins in the sea.

Are penguins loyal to their partners?

In the water, penguins stay in flocks, and on land they form colonies. All representatives of the penguin order are monogamous. They create permanent couples.

AT mating season males make loud trumpet-like sounds. Those who are more plump have an advantage in the female sex. They have enough fat to incubate their eggs to survive for several weeks. Parents replace each other during absences for food.

Types of penguins

There are 19 species of penguins in total. Let's talk about some of them.

Magellanic penguin

It breeds on the Patagonian coast, the Falkland Islands and the Juan Fernandez Islands. Body length - 70-80 cm. Weight - 5-6 kg. They got their name thanks to the famous traveler who first discovered sea birds near the island of Tierra del Fuego.

Galapagos penguin

It is unique in that it lives not in the Antarctic and subantarctic regions, but on the Galapagos Islands. They are located very close to the equator. The air temperature here is from +18 to +28°С. Body length - 50-60 cm. Weight - 2.5 kg. This species is listed in the international Red Book.

emperor penguin

The largest of all penguins. The body length of the male reaches 130 cm, and the weight is 40 kg. Found on the coast of Antarctica. Emperor penguins have a spot of orange or bright yellow in the neck area - it becomes even more difficult to confuse with another species.

king penguin

Very similar to the emperor penguin, but smaller. Body length - 90-100 cm, weight - 9-18 kg. They have gray back, and on the sides of the black head and on the chest there are large orange spots. King penguins nest on islands near Tierra del Fuego, including South Georgia Island.

Adelie penguin

They live in Antarctica and the South Shetland Islands. For the first time, scientists discovered these birds on Adélie Land. This is one of the Antarctic regions. Their habitat is floating ice Antarctica, but for laying eggs they move to the mainland, traveling up to hundreds of kilometers. The length of the penguin is 65-75 cm, weight is about 6 kg.

Gentoo Penguin or Gentoo Penguin

The largest after the emperor and king penguin. The length of the bird is 70-90 cm, weight - 7.5-9 kg. The penguin has a black back, a white belly and a bright orange-red beak and paws. The habitat is limited to the territories of the Antarctic and the islands of the Subantarctic zone.

Where to see penguins

Penguins are found in southern Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, are found in South America and the Galapagos Islands. And yet most of all penguins live in Antarctica.

Birds are not at all afraid of people, therefore they are not used to danger on land. If you want to pet a penguin, see what trips to Antarctica you can do this.

Seeing several places where penguins live in one trip? There are many islands along the route, where different species of these birds live. Adélie penguins nest on the Buroy Bluff of the Tabarin Peninsula. They also set up entire colonies on Paulet Island. There are so many birds that you can hardly see the ground. Gentoo penguins roam around scientific station on the island of Gaudier, not at all embarrassed to pose for tourists' cameras. Both species, Adélie and Gentou, also live on Petermann Island.

The cruise program includes not only acquaintance with penguins, but also leisure. Overnight in tents right on the ice of Antarctica, kayaking among the glaciers, photography training and snowshoeing. The hardiest travelers can even climb the Antarctic mountains.

Meet New Year not just in the south, but in the very south of the Earth. Among the icebergs that crash into the sea. Antarctica is perhaps the most unusual place for the holiday.

You will celebrate the beginning of the decade with the penguins. They are not afraid of people at all, and will most likely look into your bag or boot when you are on Cuverville Island. Even in you will see the Lemaire Strait. Handsome enough to be nicknamed "Kodak Gap". So many shots are being taken here. Polar explorers say that travelers used to spend up to 600 km of film a year in this place. You will visit Russian scientists at the Bellingshausen polar station on King George Island. If you're brave enough, take a polar swim off the volcanic Deception Island.

Reach the South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula, celebrate the New Year among the glaciers, admire the Ghent and Adélie penguins ... and all this together with Dmitry Krylov. A well-known traveler, host of the popular program "Non-traveling Notes" will leave at the beginning of 2019. Great company for an expedition to the southern hemisphere.

Gentoo penguins, Adelie...they've been dealt with. Can you see other views? In Antarctica, you will meet emperor penguins - the largest representatives of the penguin order. Explore Seymour Island. Here, the Swedish Antarctic Expedition discovered the bones of a 2-meter fossil penguin.

In search of emperor penguins, you will set off on a comfortable ice-class expedition vessel, and you will also travel by helicopter. You will reach those places among the icebergs that are inaccessible to other transport.

Good day, curious know-it-alls!

Today, to help parents and young students, we are preparing material for grade 1 on the world around us. Almost everyone who has been to the zoo has seen funny birds that do not know how to fly at all, but walk imposingly, waddling, or slide down ice slides right into the water. Guess who I'm talking about? Yes, today we are talking about penguins.

Does everyone know where penguins live, or maybe there are those who doubt at which pole they can be found, do they surf the waters of the Arctic Ocean day after day or gurgle around the coasts of Australia and Africa? Duck, in the Arctic or Antarctic, in the South or North? Let's figure it out!

Lesson plan:

Who are penguins and where can they be found?

So we know what it is sea ​​birds, they do not fly, but they swim perfectly and this is, perhaps, almost all that we know about these clumsy and amazing creatures with white belly and black back.

According to the great Internet, there are already 3 versions of the origin of the name of these inquisitive animals:

1. according to the first of them, the penguin is a follower of the white-winged auk, which died out in the 19th century, which outwardly was very similar to it, also could not fly, also clubfooted on land, it was the sailors who used to call it the penguin;
2. according to the second version, the name of the bird is associated with the translation from English as a hairpin wing, which again belonged to the appearance of the previously mentioned white-winged auk;
3. the third version translates penguin from Latin as "fat".

Be that as it may, today we associate only one bird with this word, in which scientists have about 18 species. And before there were at least 40! After all, penguin ancestors more than 60 million years ago (or maybe all 100 million, it is still unclear) lived in a temperate climate at a time when their homeland Antarctica was not yet covered with a continuous layer of ice.

But centuries passed, the weather changed, and Antarctica shifted towards the South Pole, turning into one big ice floe. Many animals left, some died out, and only a few were able to adapt to the eternal cold. Among them are penguins.

Today, you can meet the penguin family throughout Antarctica, which covers Antarctica, which we have already mentioned, and the adjacent island territories of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. But do not confuse Antarctica with the Arctic, which is adjacent to North Pole on the other, directly opposite, side of our Earth.

In the waters of the North Arctic Ocean penguins do not live, but there you can find seals and walruses, baleen whales and.

So, we figured out the poles: penguins live in the South, in Antarctica, where their largest concentration is. You can also see these diving athletes in New Zealand, which is in the southwest side Pacific Ocean, they have "apartments" in Australia and South Africa, South America and Peru.

But this does not mean at all that penguins love to bask in the sun. They prefer coolness, because in the tropics they are only in those places where there are cold currents. Most warm place they chose only near the equator, on the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean.

What are they?

All members of the penguin family swim and dive excellently, but slightly differ in appearance and place of residence. So,

• There are only two species left in Antarctica:

- imperial, the largest of all, reaching 1.22 m in height and 22-45 kg in weight, with bright orange cheeks.
It is also called the Forster bird in honor of its discoverer - the naturalist from the round-the-world trip of the well-known Captain Cook.

- Adele, the most common and famous, named by a French explorer in honor of his wife.
There is no other such penguin representative in nature similar to Adele.

• Close relatives of the emperor penguin, only a little shorter and weight and slightly brighter in color, the royal settled on the southern islands - Kerguelen in Indian Ocean, South Georgia in the Atlantic, Tierra del Fuego, Macquarie in the Pacific.
  
• The place of residence of the Papuan, very similar to the royal, was South Georgia and the Kerguelen archipelago. This species is distinguished by a white stripe running along the crown from one eye to the other. Its name is a real zoological incident, because penguins do not live in the homeland of the Papuans in New Guinea!
  
• Crested, northernmost, with narrow yellow eyebrows, with tassels at the ends, fell in love with Tasmania and the shores of South America. He jumps on the rocks there, pushing off the rhinestone with both paws and falling into the water like a “soldier”. The severity of it appearance give yellow feathers starting from the nostrils and bulging like a fan behind the eyes.
  
• The thick-billed representative, also called the Victoria penguin, outwardly similar to the yellow-browed crested one, preferred the south of New Zealand and the islands of Solander and Stewart for himself.
  
• In Chile and Peru, there are Humboldt penguins, named after the German geographer who found them. This species is distinguished by its horseshoe-shaped white spots under the eyes, running across the back of the head to the chest.
  
• To see a Humboldt-like spectacled representative, also called a donkey for his loud and unpleasant voice, you need to go to Namibia or South Africa.
  
• On the island of Juan Fernandez and near the Brazilian Rio de Janeiro, you can meet a Magellanic species, also similar to its two relatives - spectacled and Humboldt. He only has two dark stripes on his chest, not one.
  
• You will be able to communicate with the Galapagos species, inferior to the Magellanic one only in size, on the Galapagos islands of Fernandina and Isabela. He is there in the city alone, there are no other representatives on the islands.
  
• In Australia and the Snare Islands, you can meet the great crested penguin. He is always surprised, because his eyebrows always bristle up.
  
• Golden-haired, whose golden-yellow feathers descend from eye level to his back, he settled in the Falkland Islands and southern Chile.
  
• The little penguin, the shortest of all in height - about 40 cm, is called blue because of the bluish solid top. It can be seen off the coast of South Australia.
  
• The white-winged species is also among the undersized and unremarkable, like the small one. It lives in Canterbury and western New Zealand.
  
• The magnificent, or also called yellow-eyed, penguin "built a house" on the Campbell archipelago and the islands of Macquarie and the Bounty. From one eye to the other, he has a yellow stripe.
  

All of the above species are about 65-75 cm tall, with the exception of the imperial and royal ones. The weight of the smallest bird, for example, a small blue one, starts from 1 kg, middle view weighs 3.5-4 kg.

How do penguins live?

These clumsy on land animals in the water are real tightrope walkers. Their streamlined body shape is simply designed to move where they can pick up speed at an average of 10 km / h. However, if they are in a hurry, they can accelerate to all 20-25 km / h, breaking all records for the time spent under water.

So, the imperial is able to stay up to 18-20 minutes, diving to a depth of 530 meters!

All this is helped by the addition of a “bodybuilder”: the penguin muscles are so highly developed that any bodybuilder will envy, because swimming in conditions of resistance of the water column requires very strong wings-fins.

These animals also jump high. They, like candles, jump out of the water one after another onto the shore up to 1.8 meters high. And who said that on land they are slow. Rolling from side to side, thereby the birds save energy, but when you need to run with all your paws, they can overcome 3-6 km in an hour! And they also know how to easily move down the ice slides on the go, even on the back, even lying on the abdomen. Try it, catch up!

A thick layer of subcutaneous fat (2-3 cm), as many as 3 layers of waterproof feathers, between which the air cushion retains heat, helps the penguins not to freeze. They throw off their "business tuxedos" once a year in the summer, updating a slightly worn feather suit.

And also, in order not to freeze, they cluster together, gathering in small groups: it’s warmer together! So that no one is offended from the edges, those basking in the group constantly move from the center to the edge, from the edge to the very center. In total, a friendly penguin family can number from tens of thousands to millions of birds in one settlement!

Their daily menu mainly includes fish and crustaceans, which they swallow right under water without getting out on land, for which they make about 200 dives a day.

Penguins live for about 25 years if people do not interfere with them.

Today, three species are on the verge of extinction - crested, magnificent and Galapagos.

Among the main reasons why these birds are hunted are their eggs and subcutaneous fat, from which oil is extracted. Some populations are declining due to lack of food due to abrupt change climate.
Found funny video about penguins. look, smile)

Here they are, amazing penguins. What do you know about these birds? Share your knowledge in the comments)

Interesting lessons for you!

Penguins - unique birds who cannot fly. They are clumsy on land, but they are excellent in the water. On Earth, there are about 16 species, according to other sources - up to 20. Each species lives in different parts Sveta. Adapting to the climate and living conditions in different continents, penguins have mastered the territories of Antarctica, the north of New Zealand, the southern coast of Australia, America (Argentina), Africa, and even settled on the equator ( Galapagos Islands).

Places of residence different types penguins

Even before climate change on the planet, penguins lived in an area with temperate climate. With climate change and the shift of Antarctica to South Pole, many species of animals left the mainland covered with ice. Only a small number of adapted animals have mastered life in Antarctica. The penguins were one of them. Some species of penguins have left Antarctica and settled in other parts of the Southern Hemisphere.

Now only 2 species of penguins live in Antarctica: Imperial and Adele. They can also be found in coastal waters Antarctica.

Most close relative emperor penguin, king penguin, inhabits islands in the Southern Hemisphere: Kerguelen, South Georgia, South Sandwich Islands, Tierra del Fuego, Macquarie, Hurd, Crozet.

Another member of the penguin family, crested penguin, lives on the islands of the Subarctic, Tasmania and off the coast of South America.

On the islands of Solander, Stuart and on the South coast of New Zealand lives thick-billed penguin or the so-called Victoria Penguin.

A resident of the small archipelago of the Snar Islands is big penguin.

golden-headed penguin inhabits the southern Atlantic (the islands of Tierra del Fuego, the Falkland Islands), and is also distributed in southern Chile.

little penguin lives on the coast of South Australia and New Zealand.

white-winged penguin lives on the coasts of southern Australia and the western part South Island New Zealand, Canterbury.

The main place of residence for magnificent penguin became the Campbell Archipelago. Some individuals of this species can be found on Bounty Island and in the east of Macquarie Island.

See gentoo penguin available in the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the Kerguelen Archipelago.

spectacled penguin is an inhabitant of South Africa, Namibia, and is also found along islands with a cold Bengal current.

The habitat of the Galapagos penguin is the Galapagos Islands. About 90% of the entire species of Galapagos penguins inhabit the islands of Fernandina and Isabela.

Humboldt penguins live on the coast of Chile and Peru.

Magellanic penguin inhabits the coasts of the islands of Juan Fernandez and Tierra del Fuego. In addition to the southern coast of America, this species is also found in the north of Coquimbo (Chile) and Rio de Janeiro.

Everyone knows penguins - these unusual birds.

With as if wearing a tailcoat on the body and red paws and beak, these beauties are very popular and loved.

Moreover, the general majority of people think that penguins live exclusively in Antarctica.

However, this is not entirely true, the thing is that there are as many as 18 species of penguins and only 3 of them live directly in Antarctica and its coastal waters. But first things first.

Currently living penguins are flightless but good swimmers. In the water, penguins move very quickly - about ten kilometers per hour. But on land they are clumsy, and though webbed feet they help the penguins to stay straight, they move on the ground at a speed of only a few kilometers per hour, but at the same time they are able to cover distances of up to 100 kilometers.

The harsh conditions in which some species of penguins live force them to stray into numerous flocks and even colonies. During a severe cold and blizzard, the birds cling to each other, keeping warm.
These birds feed mainly on fish - sardines, anchovies, silverfish. And some species prefer shrimp and shellfish. Birds drink sea water.

Where do they live?

And so where do they live, these same penguins. Many of us, sometimes even for a minute, but still have a doubt, but where in the Arctic or Antarctic? But there should be no doubt - penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere and only the Southern, and not only in the icy Antarctic and its coastal waters. Their habitat is a very large area - this is southern part Australia, and New Zealand, and South Africa, the coast of Peru, and even the Galapagos Islands, where it is more than warm. But to be more precise...

1. Directly in Antarctica and its coastal waters, only two species of penguins live in our time - these are Adélie, Antarctic and Imperial.
2. King penguins, as well as Magellans, inhabit the islands - South Georgia, the South Sandwich Islands, Tierra del Fuego, Macquarie, Hurd, Crozet.
3. Crested penguins live on the islands of Tasmania and off the coast of Peru.
4. Victoria penguins or thick-billed penguins live on the Stewart Islands and on the South coast of New Zealand.
5. Golden-domed - inhabits the southern parts of Chile, as well as the islands of Tierra del Fuego and Falkland.
6. Little penguins live on the coast of South Australia and New Zealand.
7. The main habitat for the Magnificent Penguins was the Campbell Archipelago, Bounty Island and Macquarie Island.
8. Schlegel penguins also live there on Macquarie.
9. Galapagos penguins, as the name implies, live in the Galapagos Islands.
10. Humboldt penguins live on the coast of Chile and Peru.
11. Papuans live in the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the Kerguelen archipelago.
12. Spectacled penguins - the coast of South Africa and Namibia.

Does the penguin live in captivity?

Penguins are great creatures and breed very well in zoos. Moreover, it has been established that in captivity, these birds live much longer. Most likely simply because wild nature penguins have a very harsh lifestyle, clearly not conducive to life extension - beyond low temperatures, difficulties with subsistence and simply an incredible number of enemies - predators for whom penguins are a means of subsistence.

That is why today special nurseries began to be created, the main purpose of which is to contribute to an increase in penguin populations.

Did you know that penguins have lived since the time of the dinosaurs? And if the latter were unlucky and scientists restore their appearance from the bones, then the ancestors of the penguins, who appeared 70 million years ago, still delight us with their unusual habits.

most penguins live in Antarctica which is located in the southern hemisphere of the Earth. They are very fond of the cold, and can withstand temperatures down to -110 degrees. They have a thick layer of subcutaneous fat and three layers of feathers. The body fat of a penguin is half its weight. By the way, that's why they were called that. The Spanish word "penguin" means "fat, overweight." In a snow storm, a fat "fur coat" is very necessary. In a blizzard, when wind gusts reach a speed of 30 meters per second, not a single feather on the penguin flutters, everyone lies smoothly, covering the bird with a dense shell

Penguins are birds even though they can't fly at all. But they excellent swimmers and divers. Since their wings are not adapted for flight, they are used as fins. And thanks to their body, similar to a torpedo, penguins reach speeds under water up to 40 kilometers per hour. These birds spend half their lives in the water, swimming or foraging for food - fish, plankton and shellfish. They can dive to depths of up to five hundred meters while holding their breath. for 30 minutes.

Penguins move on their hind legs with short steps, keeping their body upright. Their speed on land is a maximum of 2 km / h, but they can go up to 100 km without stopping. And if you need to move faster, they lie on their belly and glide through the snow like on a sleigh, pushing off with their wings and legs.

Penguins live in large colonies. consisting of many families. These birds recognize their relatives by smell. And they use sign language to communicate. They shake their heads or flap their wings to communicate.

Penguins - good parents . The penguin lays one or two eggs, the appearance of which the future parents greet with joyful cries. They bow and thank each other. Then the father penguin takes the egg and hides it in the fat fold on the abdomen. He will keep it on paws - flippers 2 months standing in the bitter cold and strong wind almost without moving. At this time, the mother penguin goes far to the sea to hunt for food. Fathers usually crowd together so as not to freeze themselves. The chicks hatch covered in soft fluff, but after three weeks the parents leave the chicks and only occasionally return to feed them. From this time on, the chicks begin to unite in close groups - kindergartens. And a year later, when the kids have waterproof feathers, they become completely independent.