14 sjove fakta om pingvinerne i Antarktis
Penguins are an iconic part of the wildlife across Antarctica and the Southern Hemisphere. With the help of our resident penguin expert, we've answered the 14 more frequently asked questions about these loveable birds.
2 minutter at læse
Når man tænker på Antarktis , ser man umiddelbart pingviner for sig: En nuttet lille pingvinfamilie, der vralter henover isen, eller majestætiske pingviner, der strækker sig i deres fulde højde med gule markeringer på hoved og hals og en sort fjerdragt, der giver påmindelser om fine herrer i kjole og hvidt. Sidstnævnte er en beskrivelse af kongepingvinen, der er den næststørste af de forskellige pingvinarter.
Med sin højde på op til en meter (svarende til et børnehavebarn) hører den til gruppen af "store pingviner" sammen med sin endnu højere artsfælle, kejserpingvinen. Trods deres overlegne, elegante udseende er kejserpingviner faktisk kraftfulde, højtydende atleter. De kan dykke ned til 300 meters dybde og kan jage i dybet i op til ni minutter.
Årsagen til pingvinforældrenes succes er, at de deles om arbejdet
Hvis man er så heldig at møde kejserpingvinunger i Antarktis om sommeren (når vinteren hærger på den nordlige halvkugle), vil man opleve de mest charmerende dyrebørn i hele verden. De er ovenud nuttede med deres sølvgrå, pjuskede dun. Når ægget er blevet udruget i omkring 55 dage, hvor begge forældrefugle skiftes til at ruge, tilbringer ungerne de første 30-40 dage af deres liv på toppen af deres forældres fødder under en beskyttende mavefold.
Den ene forælder holder ungen varm, mens den anden søger føde, og så bytter de. Men det skal foregå hurtigt, da ungen kun kan tåle at blive udsat for de antarktiske temperaturer i få sekunder. Efter nogle få uger er ungerne klar til at gå på opdagelse og tilbringe tid i pingvinbørnehaver sammen med andre pingviner på samme alder, hvor de står tæt sammen for at holde varmen. Kongepingviner kan blive omkring 20 år gamle, selvom nogle har nået den høje alder af 50 år.
Kunne du tænke dig at møde kongerne af Antarktis?
Du finder dem på pakisen på den nordlige del af Antarktis, på Prince Edward Islands, Sydgeorgien og Falklandsøerne som en del af et ekspeditionskrydstogt til Antarktis med Hurtigruten.
Your top penguin questions answered.
Penguins are one of Antarctica's more iconic residents and with roughly 12 million living on this frozen continent: from the cute little penguin families waddling over the ice to majestic penguins standing tall and proud with their distinctive yellow markings and black feathers resembling a tailcoat. However, it's not just in Antarctica that you can find these lovable animals - they can be found all across the Southern Hemisphere as far north as the Galapagos Islands or as east as Australia and New Zealand. We sat down with our resident Penguin Expert, Rob Lidstone-Scott B.Sc. Biology and M.Sc. Ecology, to bring you 14 weird and wonderful facts about penguins.
1. Are penguins birds?
Yes, penguins are birds - although they swim and cannot fly. In common with other birds, they have feathers and lay eggs. The penguins' feathers are stiff and closely overlay each other to create an isolating layer, which traps air beneath it and protects against the harsh Antarctic weather.
2. Where do penguins live?
Penguins make their homes in different climates, depending on the type of penguin. However, all penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere – there are no penguins in the Arctic. From the most northerly Galapagos penguin (which may venture north of the equator) to the Emperor and Adelié penguins which only breed in Antarctica.
3. How big are penguins?
Like other animals, penguins vary in size. The tallest is the aptly named Emperor penguin of Antarctica at 1.2 meters, whilst the smallest is again the aptly named Little penguin of New Zealand which is less than 40cm tall. The six largest penguin species all live in the Antarctic or within the Antarctic Circle.
4. What do penguins eat?
Penguins are carnivorous, eating fish, krill, squid, octopus, and other small sea creatures. Broadly speaking, smaller penguins consume mainly krill and smaller fish, whereas larger penguins consume larger fish, squid, and octopus. Male Emperor penguins will go without food for up to 115 days, whilst they incubate the single egg on their feet through the harsh Antarctic winter.
5. Why are penguins black and white?
Apart from the descriptively named little blue penguin from Australasia, most penguins are black and white, as it gives camouflage from above (against predators) and below (against prey). Occasionally, the black & white theme fails as in the example of ‘Lucy’ – she is leucistic, a genetically-determined lack of dark pigment making her weirdly pale.
6. Do penguins lose their feathers?
Unlike most birds who molt (lose feathers and regrow them) a few at a time throughout the year, penguins lose all their feathers at once – this is known as ‘catastrophic molt’. As their feathers provide insulation, they are unable to go out to sea and hunt for food, so instead they stand around looking thoroughly miserable while the new feathers grow.
7. How deep do penguins dive?
Penguins are incredible swimmers and can stay submerged for up to 30 minutes, but typically dive for around 5 minutes. Emperor penguins regularly dive to depths of between 100m and 200m, the deepest dive ever recorded was at 565m, lasting 22mins.
8. How fast do penguins swim?
Don't let the famous penguin walk fool you, these iconic birds are fast in the water. Whilst underwater penguins can swim at about 4-7mph, but closer to the surface, these speeds increase. Gentoos are the fastest swimming penguin, reaching speeds of 36km/h (22mph).
9. Do polar bears eat penguins?
This is a common misconception for these two iconic polar animals. Since there are no penguins in the Arctic and no polar bears in the Southern Hemisphere, both animals have never met in the wild. Therefore penguins don’t get eaten by polar bears.
10. What is a group of penguins called?
Penguins breed in colonies, sometimes called ‘rookeries’ – a reference to the term for slums in Dickensian Britain. Some colonies are so large, they were first discovered by satellite, like the 2 million-strong Chinstrap penguin colony on the South Sandwich Islands. The 1.5 million Adelié penguins colony on the Danger Islands, was first spotted by satellite because of their poo.
11. Do penguins live in nests?
It’s only Gentoo penguins that build a nest, using pebbles and a few old feathers. Pebbles are a major currency in Gentoo courtship – a steady supply of pebbles is much better than a bunch of roses! Pebbles can be acquired through legitimate labour, however, some resort to a life of crime stealing from another nest or a passing pebble-carrying penguin as two popular shortcuts.
12. How long do penguins take to hatch?
This varies by species, the Emporer penguins of Antarctica incubate for around 55 days. Both parents protect the egg from harsh conditions, by carefully resting the egg on their feet under a protective abdominal fold. Whilst Gentoo penguins have a shorter incubation period of around 34/37 days, using their nest to protect the egg from both predators and the weather
13. How many species of penguins are there?
There are 18 species of penguin – sort of! Some scientists have suggested that the Gentoo penguin is not a single species, but rather 3 or 4 species. There is a size difference between the larger birds on the Falklands and the smaller Gentoos on the Antarctic Peninsula; birds from the north are on average 700g (1.5lb) heavier and 10cm (3.9in) longer than the southern birds. The southern Gentoos also reproduce two months quicker than their northern cousins – useful in the short Antarctic summer.
14. Do penguins mate for life?
Penguins are mostly monogamous or perhaps, more correctly, serially monogamous – they form a couple for a season but may have a different mate in the following year. The magnificent king penguins are only 29% faithful from one year to the next. Some species are more faithful - a pair of Magellanic penguins have been recorded together for 16 years, heading towards their silver wedding anniversary. Chinstraps & Gentoos appear quite faithful, joining up with last year’s mate 82% and 90% of the time.
Are penguins birds? Yes, they are!
The answer is yes, penguins are birds - although they swim and cannot fly. One can say that the penguins belong to a zoological term called flightless seabirds. In common with other birds they have feathers and lay eggs. The penguins feathers are stiff and closely overlay each other to get a isolating layer, which traps air beneath it and provide insulation against cold weather and water.
Types of penguins - how many are there? There are 17 total species of penguins, but the continent of Antarctica is home to only four breeding species of them. By far the most common is the chinstrap penguin (Pygoscelis antarctica), which owes its name to the narrow black band under its head. The second-most populated is the Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae), numbering approximately 2.3 million pairs in Antarctica. Other penguin species on the continent include the emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) and the Gentoo penguin (pygoscelis papua). Three more species live and nest on the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands: the macaroni penguin (Eudyptes chrysolophus), the rockhopper penguin (Eudyptes crestatus), and the king penguin (Aptenodytes patagonica).
Where do penguins live? Since there are over 17 different species of penguins, they live scattered from each other. Penguins make their homes in different climates, depending on the type of penguin. All penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere – there are no penguins in the Arctic.
