Few can resist smiling when they see this wonderful inhabitant of the planet. Clumsy on land and graceful in the water, penguins delight with their habits. Let's arm ourselves with a camera and go hunting. So, in our small photo gallery the most beautiful penguins and their babies.
The best photos and facts about penguins:
To begin with, let’s share a very interesting fact found on the Internet. This funny video will tell you about the real beauty of penguins, according to Leva, a friend of the famous Russian blogger Ilya Varlamov:
We hope this video has not convinced you that penguins are beautiful and cute animals. But, as it turned out, not always.
Royal breeds
In the photo: Emperor penguin.
The emperor penguin opens our list. The largest species of the penguin family. They have peculiar orange collars around their necks, which give it a truly royal look.
In the photo: King penguin.
No less majestic and proud and a different look. This is a king penguin that is distinguished from other species by its bright orange and red spots on its neck and cheeks.
Fabulous
The species of the magnificent penguin can also be classified as monarchical breeds. Its characteristic feature is its yellow eyes.
They live in independent pairs and rarely form colonies. This is an endangered species. There are no more than 4,000 pairs on the planet.
Crested penguin
Photo: © Samuel Blanc
This funny look with a tuft on his head became the prototype for the creation of the character Cody Maverick in the animated film Catch the Wave!
The cartoon about commando penguins from Madagascar is no less popular. Who in childhood did not follow the adventures of Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private.
Golden-haired
Now let's see how beautiful golden-haired penguins are. This species has characteristic yellow eyebrows above the eyes, forming a funny tuft.
The name “golden-haired” is accepted in Russian. The British, and after them the whole world, call it Macaroni Penguin - a dandy penguin. The name comes from the dandies of the 18th century who wore unusual hairstyles on their heads.
By the way, on most-beauty.ru there is a very interesting article about the most beautiful birds of our planet.
Antarctic
Slightly different in appearance from its counterparts. A black stripe runs along the white neck from one ear to the other. These unique beads distinguish it from other types.
Because of this stripe, it seems that the animal is constantly smiling. They are excellent swimmers and divers. They can dive into the depths of the sea up to 250 m, and move 1,000 km away from their nesting sites.
Australian
Author: Aaron Jacobs from Los Angeles, CA.
It is the smallest of all penguins in the world. They are also called dwarf or blue penguins because of their characteristic coat color. Became a prototype for the creation of the Linux logo. Although some believe that this is an Adelie penguin. You can bet...
They live on the southern coast of Australia in slope crevices. They live in pairs, remaining faithful for a long time. But the female and male hunt separately from each other.
Do you think penguins are cute and affectionate? You're wrong
We watch with emotion how the penguins waddle, we are amazed by their amazing way of life. But upon closer examination, it was possible to find out that there is a dark side to the habits of these unusual birds.
1. The Southern Hemisphere is the exclusive habitat for all 17 species of the penguin family. 2. Penguins live not only in Antarctica. These birds also live in New Zealand, Africa and even on the equator. 3. Penguins are afraid of killer whales, and for good reason. Killer whales always hunt them. When penguins do not know whether their enemy is nearby, they crowd for a long time on the edge of the ice floe until the bravest member of the flock dares to dive. If he survives, the others will follow. 4. Not all penguins live in polar latitudes. Galapagos penguins, for example, live on the islands of the same name, and the average annual temperature there is about +18 degrees Celsius. 5. Polar penguin species can withstand temperatures down to -60 degrees
6.The largest penguins in the world are emperor penguins. Ten out of twelve months of the year they live in Antarctica. This is the most famous species of penguin. 7.The body length of an adult animal exceeds one meter, and its weight can reach forty kilograms. 8. Emperor penguins live in Antarctica for ten months of the year. Every two months, according to scientists, they spend in the open sea and on ice floes near Antarctica. 9. These birds, like most penguins, are monogamous - they maintain established pairs for life. The female looks for a new “husband” only if her regular partner has died. 10. Emperor penguins do not have nests. Males place the eggs on their paws and cover them with the abdominal fold. They hatch eggs for 65-70 days. Females spend this time in the ocean. Then the parents take turns feeding the chick.
11. The habitat of Adélie penguins is Antarctica. For the first time, scientists discovered these birds in one of the Antarctic regions called Adélie Land. 12. Adélie penguins live on the border between the floating ice of Antarctica and the open sea. But you can’t nest on ice: it will melt and the eggs will drown. Therefore, in the spring, penguins move to the mainland. 13. To do this, they have to travel from several tens to hundreds of kilometers. They cannot fly, so they travel on foot or crawl on their bellies, and quite quickly - at a speed of up to 6 km/h. 14. On the shore, males build small stone nests, and females lay two eggs in them. In December, the ice melts, and the penguins again find themselves close to the water. 15. Penguins really don’t freeze in cold water thanks to a thick layer of fat and feathers that fit tightly together.
16. The habitat of king penguins is Antarctica. These penguins are famous as excellent fishermen. During the breeding season, all king penguins together (about a million pairs) eat up to 7,000 tons of fish. 17.Birds hunt in small flocks. Each of them has several old experienced penguins. They teach young people to hunt. In order to catch fish, birds dive to a depth of more than 20 meters. 18.Penguins go fishing once every two weeks, and in between they don’t eat anything, just drink. And both fresh and salt water. During the two-week diet, the birds lose half their weight. 19.Chicks appear less frequently in king penguin families than in other species. First, the female lays one egg, and the next year another. And the third egg is only two years after the second. 20. Penguins’ feet don’t get cold either, because the number of nerve endings in them is minimal.
21. The most common penguins in the world are golden-haired penguins. There are about twenty million of them. 22. The habitat of golden-haired penguins is the Antarctic Islands. During the mating season, the bachelor male spreads his wings and begins to bow gracefully in front of the female, while emitting loud hoarse cries. If several males are fighting for the attention of a beautiful lady at once, they scream in unison. 23. Golden-haired penguin chicks are fed and protected by males. And the females hunt and bring them food. 24. “Strange geese” - this is what Antonio Pigafetta called the penguins, who traveled with Magellan in 1520 and was the first person to tell the world about the mysterious birds. 25. Penguins are monogamous and monogamous. It depends on the specific species, but most penguins mate for life.
26. The fastest of the penguins is the subantarctic, or gentoo penguin. Underwater it can reach speeds of up to 36 km/h. 27.The habitat of subantarctic penguins is the subantarctic islands. These birds are also often called donkey penguins because their loud calls are very similar to those of a donkey. 28. Subantarctic penguins are excellent swimmers. Penguins make nests among tufts of grass. Females lay two eggs. Newborn chicks have to fight for their parents to feed them. Every time during feeding, the father runs away from the babies, and the children try to catch up with him. Whoever wins the race gets a portion of food. The weaker chick is fed only if there is a lot of food. Otherwise, he gets nothing, and he dies of hunger. 29. In the 19th century, subantarctic penguins almost became extinct. They were exterminated by whalers who hunted them for their oil and eggs. 30. Nowadays, these birds are protected by the international Red Book. You can't hunt them.
31. Antarctic penguins build their nests using stones and earth as building materials. 32. The habitat of chinstrap penguins is the Antarctic Islands. These small penguins feed on krill (small sea crustaceans). Typically, birds prefer crustaceans 4-6 cm in size. 33. Polar explorers call chinstrap penguins “police” because of their coloring. They have a black “cap” on the top of their head, the front of the head is white, and under the beak there is a black stripe, like the helmet strap of British police officers. Chinstrap penguin chicks have gray speckled heads. After the first molt they disappear. 34. In England and the USA, Antarctic penguins are called “macaroni”. In the 19th century, this was what fashionistas were called. 35. The nest that penguins create, as a rule, also becomes permanent: in most cases, penguins nest in the place where they themselves were born.
36. Of all the penguin species, the magnificent penguins love water the least. They spend most of their lives on land. 37. The habitat of the magnificent penguins is New Zealand. This is the only penguin species that does not form colonies. Magnificent penguins nest in independent pairs. Only young immature birds live in groups. At the same time, they stay away from the nests of adult pairs. 38. Sexual maturity in females occurs only at 3-4 years, and in males even later - at 4-5 years. New Zealand Islanders call these birds "hoiho", which means "noisy screamers". The fact is that when a male and a female meet after separation, they greet each other with loud cries. This is a very rare species of penguin: about 5 thousand pairs of birds have survived in the world. 39. The air in the layers of feathers is what protects penguins from heat loss, especially when swimming in very, very cold water. 40. In colonies, the number of which can reach thousands of birds, almost all penguins are raised - with the exception of literally a few species.
41. The habitat of spectacled penguins is South Africa. These penguins are real homebodies. They do not like to roam, preferring to spend time near the sea coast. 42.Now the coastal areas of South Africa are densely populated by people, and birds have almost no place to live. 43. In 2000, they were badly damaged by an oil spill off the coast of South Africa. The National Coastal Bird Trust had to create several volunteer teams whose members cleaned the penguins from oil. 44. A male spectacled penguin expresses affection by gently stroking the female's head. 45. In 1487, on board the ship of Vasco da Gama, among the entries in an anonymous diary, there is a description of flightless birds in the area of the Cape of Good Hope. Perhaps there was also talk about penguins. 46. The largest representative of penguins is the emperor penguin, whose height reaches 120 cm, and the smallest is the small, or blue penguin. His height on average is only 33 cm.
47. Penguins are very careful about their eggs. One day, a group of geologists stole an egg from them in order to eat it, but a flock of penguins began to pursue them. No, no plot for a horror movie - the penguins just silently followed the people. The geologists decided to give them the egg, after which the chase stopped. 48. The word "penguin" has been used since the 16th century to refer to the Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis), an extinct species that once lived off the eastern coast of Canada. When explorers traveled to the Southern Hemisphere and encountered the great auk-like black and white birds, they dubbed them penguins. 49. Penguins do not experience any fear of people, because they are not accustomed to danger on earth. Don't be surprised when you hear stories of people petting penguins or hand feeding them. 50. Penguins are only clumsy on land. Underwater they turn out to be very dexterous and graceful.
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Inhabitants of Africa
The African penguin holds the record for names. He is called a donkey because his voice is very similar to the cry of a donkey. The second name is spectacled, because of the circles around the eyes. It is also called black-footed because its paws are black.
In South Africa it is one of the main living attractions. On the upper part of the chest, each spectacled penguin has a horseshoe-shaped design. The most interesting thing is that these drawings are as unique as a person’s fingerprints.
Adele
Author: Stan Shebs.
The beautiful flightless sea bird received its specific name thanks to the French navigator and explorer Jules Dumont-Durville.
He named the new species after his wife. Take a closer look, there is a certain French charm in this penguin. Based on it, Japanese and Soviet animators drew the little penguin Lolo. This Antarctic species inspired the creators of all parts of Madagascar. Children and adults immediately fell in love with the Madagascar mischief-makers.
Penguin nutritional features
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Penguin got food for himself photo
The main food of penguins is fish: Antarctic silverfish, anchovies or sardines, as well as crustaceans (euphausiids, krill), small cephalopods. Penguins catch and swallow such prey directly under water.
Species that feed on small crustaceans require regular feeding. And penguins, who eat large fish, spend much less time and energy on hunting.
During the period of plumage change, and in some species also during hatching of chicks, birds completely refuse food. This period of fasting lasts from one month for Adélie and crested penguins to three and a half months for emperor penguins. At the same time, penguins lose about half of their body weight, as they use the energy of their fat reserves.
Penguins drink sea water. And excess salt is released through special glands that are located above their eyes.
Heat-loving
In the photo: Galapagos penguin. Author: Derek Keats.
Antarctic species can withstand cold temperatures down to -60°C, but the Galapagos species is used to living in warmth. They live on islands where the air temperature reaches +28°C, and swim in warm water of +22–24°C.
This species is small. Adults grow no more than 50 cm and weigh from 2 to 2.5 kg. The head and back are black, but the belly is white. There are small pink circles around the eyes.
Peruvian
The second name of this species is Humboldt penguin, and it lives among the rocks of Peru and Chile. Considered an endangered species. The main reason for the population decline is changes in the Pacific Current system.
They differ from others in their unique color. There is a dark stripe running along the white chest, and around the eyes there are, as if painted, dark “glasses.”
What do penguins eat?
The main diet consists of small fish, plankton and small cephalopods.
At one time, the penguin is capable of making up to 800 dives into the water. This amount depends on the type of bird, climate and conditions.
Mating season
Animals that are clumsy on land dance beautifully during the mating season. The male raises and lowers his head to show the female his sexual maturity.
The female, paying attention to the male, approaches him, and they begin to dance together. In the process they touch with their beaks, as if kissing. After the dance they put their heads on each other's necks. Mating lasts no more than 10 seconds, and then the process with dancing is repeated.
Danger
Harsh Antarctica tests the resilience of remarkable seabirds. The harsh climate is not the only challenge. Their main enemies in the ocean are killer whales and sharks.
Agility and speed of movement in water often save the life of a penguin. For self-defense, brave birds use their beaks and fins. On land, gulls hunt for clutches of eggs, and unattended hatchlings can fall into the clutches of brown skuas.
What was dangerous about the largest iceberg in the world?
However, recently the penguins of South Georgia Island were in great danger. In August 2022, the world's largest iceberg, with an area of 5,800 kilometers, began to move towards this piece of land. Scientists were worried that if the ice block did not change its route, the penguins would be trapped and unable to get food. This could have resulted in the death of all 120,000 penguins because there was no plan to save them. An iceberg that ended up on the island could have been stuck there for as long as 10 years.
The world's largest iceberg A-68a
Fortunately, satellite images recently showed that the huge iceberg had broken into several pieces. At the beginning of 2022, the four remaining parts began to sail in different directions and eventually passed the island sideways. Thanks to a happy coincidence, the king penguins survived. And this is great news, because these creatures live only in strictly defined places on our planet. Apart from South Georgia Island, they can only be found in the South Sandwich Islands, Heard Island and a couple of other places. There are approximately 1 million pairs of king penguins worldwide.
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The discovered penguin is far from the only animal with an unnatural yellow body color. In 2022, in Australia, an animal similar to the Pokemon Pikachu was found. In fact, it turned out to be a fox-like possum (Trichosurus vulpecula), in whose body a mutation associated with the melanin pigment also occurred. Its unusual coloring made it more visible to predators, but it was taken into protective custody. At one time, the news became very popular - you can look at the unusual possum at this link.
Penguin effect
These animals are perfectly adapted to the water element, but are afraid to enter the water. Approaching the edge of the ice floe, they crowd for a long time, not daring to jump. They are simply afraid that their dangerous enemies are in the water - killer whales or sharks.
After some time, there is a daredevil who dives first. Everyone else follows him when they see that the pioneer remains safe and sound.
What is leucism?
The unusual coloration of penguin feathers is associated with leucism. This is the name given to a genetic mutation that stops the formation of melanin and all other pigments in feathers that are responsible for the color of the hair. Sometimes leucism makes the color uneven and the animal has a spotted body. But in the case of this penguin, the mutation changed the color completely. In no case should leucism be confused with albinism. The fact is that albinism affects only melanin, while with leucism, pigment cells are completely absent.
You might be interested: you can distinguish an animal with leucism and albinism by its eyes. Albinos also have unusual eyes, such as red. With leucism, there is no change in eye color.
King penguins are similar in many ways to emperor penguins, but they are smaller in size and have brighter colors. They grow to a maximum of 1 meter and have a dark back and a white belly. Before 1918, king penguins were often hunted. This has led to their populations plummeting on some islands. But thanks to conservation methods, the number of individuals has returned to normal and at the moment they are not in danger.
The yellow penguin was very different from the rest
Hockey club mascot
The National Hockey League club from Pittsburgh has been called the Hornets since its founding. But the club owner didn’t like the name.
In 1967, a competition was held among fans, and 700 out of 26 thousand people suggested the name “Penguin”. This is how the Pittsburgh Penguins began playing in the NHL. The editors of most-beauty wish the penguins with hockey sticks many wonderful victories!
What color are penguins?
The unusual penguin was featured in the Daily Mail. As a rule, penguins are colored black and white. But there are also more colorful species. For example, king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) have yellow spots on the head and chest. This is the species that the found specimen belongs to. According to photographer Eve Adams, it was a great success that the penguin emerged from the water not far from him. There were about 120,000 birds on the beach, so if this individual was even 50 meters away, the amazing encounter might not have happened.
Penguins are mostly black and white.
Cubs
Let's finish our photo gallery with penguins. They are different for each species, but always cute and funny. The royal cubs are dressed in red fur coats, and the funniest ones are perhaps those of the imperial type.
Adults tenderly care for their offspring. In the colonies, unique kindergartens are created, where little penguins receive their first knowledge about the world around them.
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Penguin breeding
Penguin hatches an egg photo
Penguins nest in large colonies of ten thousand pairs or more. The age of nesting depends on the specific species, and the incubation time depends on the climatic conditions of the habitat.
Penguins living near the equator hatch chicks all year round, while others can only lay two clutches a year. The main nesting period is spring – autumn.
Males arrive at the colony earlier than females and occupy a small territory of about one square meter. Then they begin to attract the attention of females and emit cries that resemble the sound of a trumpet. Penguins often recreate last year's pairings, although they are not strictly monogamous birds.
Females lay eggs, one or two, in a nest, which is made of grass and small pebbles. Penguin eggs are white or greenish.
The duration of incubation is from one to two months. Both the male and the female take part in it, and they change, since the birds do not eat the eggs during incubation.
The first few weeks after birth, one of the parents watches the babies, and the other searches for food. Then the young animals form small groups, which are looked after by adults for some time.
Then the adult birds begin to molt, and the young birds move on to independent life.
The average life expectancy of penguins is about 25 years.
