The Penguin Place
   SmithLifeScience
    Last Updated 4/18/2003 

Penguins are designed for life in the sea. Some species spend as much as 75% of their lives in the water. (They lay their eggs and to raise their chicks on land.) Heavy, solid bones act like a diver's weight belt, allowing them to stay underwater. Their wings, shaped like flippers, help them "fly" underwater at speeds up to 15 mph. A streamlined body, paddle-like feet, insulating blubber, and watertight feathers all add to their efficiency and comfort underwater. They also have a remarkable deep-diving ability.

In addition to blubber for insulating warmth, penguins have stiff, tightly packed feathers (up to 70 per sq. in.) that overlap to provide waterproofing. They coat their feathers with oil from a gland near the tail to increase impermeability. Black and white countershading makes them nearly invisible to predators from above and below.

Like most birds, penguins have little or no sense of smell (a boon for those in a crowded penguin rookery!) Like other birds, their sense of taste is also limited. Their vision appears to be better when they are underwater. Scientists suspect they may be nearsighted on land.

Penguins are considered to be the most social of birds. Rookeries may contain thousands of individuals. (As many as 24 million penguins visit the Antarctic continent!) Even at sea, they tend to swim and feed in groups.

Most species of penguins build nests, but the nests may consist only of a pile of rocks or scrapings or hollows in the dirt. Emperor penguins build no nests; they hold the egg on top of their feet under a loose fold of skin called the brood patch.

Life Cycle

All penguins today start out as eggs.  The eggs are incubated, usually by both parents taking turns, for up to 8 weeks depending on the species - larger penguins lay larger eggs which take longer to incubate.  The development of the embryo in the egg follows a similar path to that of any bird - you will find plenty of examples of the development of chicken eggs in biology textbooks, and for all practical purposes you can consider penguin eggs to follow the same stages (although the timescale of the development will differ).

Once the chick is fully developed it chips its way out of the egg using an "egg-tooth" on the end of its beak.  Most penguin chicks take around a day to fully extract themselves from their eggs.  Once they emerge from the eggs the chicks are at the mercy of the elements.  They have very little protection from the cold or wet, so they rely on their parents for warmth and shelter as well as for food.

Chicks once hatched are looked after by both parents.  To begin with one parent stays with the chick while the other forages for food.  The chicks are typically fed once every day (although in some larger species the interval between parents changing duties and feeding the chicks may be longer.  To begin with the chicks either sit on their parents feet (emperors and kings) or under their bellies, to keep warm and dry.

As the chicks grow larger they grow a thick protective coat of downy feathers that allows them to keep warm and dry independently of their parents - this is important since soon they can't fit under their parents for shelter.

However, the chicks are still vulnerable to predators such as skuas, kelp gulls, etc. so they remain close to the parent on the nest site (the "guard stage").  As the chicks grow so does their appetite and the demand for food increases quickly making it difficult for just one of the parents to obtain enough food.  Eventually, the chicks are large enough that both parents can go to sea to gather food for their chick at the same time. In most species the chicks gather together in "creches" to provide protection both from predators and from the elements.  In some species, such as Kings, these creches can be very large with many hundreds of chicks tightly packed together, in other species such as Africans, the creches are smaller (with up to 10 or so chicks coming together) and very much less dense.

As the chicks grow more or less to the same size as their parents, so they begin their first moult into their juvenile plumage and take their first trips out to sea.

In most species it takes from 6 to 12 weeks to raise a chick to the juvenile stage.  However, Kings with their large chicks, take much longer (up to 13 months!) see the King penguin page for more details.  The Emperors manage to raise their large chicks more quickly, using a different strategy; the Emperor chicks moult into juvenile plumage while still much smaller than their parents.  The juveniles then continue to grow out at sea.

As soon as chicks have moulted into their juvenile plumage and lost all trace of the downy coat they had as a chick they head out to sea to fend for themselves.  This is a difficult time. The juveniles must quickly learn where to find and catch their own food as well as how to avoid the predators in the water.  This is one of the most dangerous times for penguins, in practice many juvenile penguins die during their first few months of independence.  In most species less than half the juveniles that go out to sea each year survive into adulthood.

In some species where the adults habitually return to land every night,  juveniles will usually come ashore most nights.  In other species where the adults only come ashore in the breeding season, the juveniles tend not to return to the colonies until they are ready to breed themselves.  Where juveniles do come back to the colonies on a regular basis, they are very often disruptive and may be chased away by adult birds.

After one year the juveniles moult again and now start to look very much more like their parents.  In the crested penguins the crests may take three or more years to develop fully, and in the Kings and Emperors, the colouration deepens over the first few years.  At two years old the juveniles usually return to the colony where they were born and start to think about breeding themselves.  However, it will generally take one or two seasons for them to find a mate and manage to incubate an egg successfully.

All penguins need to replace their feathers each year.  Adults generally do this after the breeding season.  Once their chicks have moulted into their own juvenile plumage the adults return to sea for a few days to build up their own fat reserves and then come back ashore to moult.  The moult takes about three weeks and the birds can only stand around and fast.  This must be a partricularly miserable time for penguins.  Because they are moulting they lose their waterproof coats and cannot enter the sea so they have to face the elements and starve until their smart new set of feathers is ready.

Some penguins return to their home colonies to moult while others will take up residence somewhere quite different.  One example is this King penguin who returns every year to Campbell Island for his moult.
 
This bird (the only King penguin on the Island) is an adult and probably breeds on Macquarie Island about 1,000 miles away.  But he prefers the solitude and beauty of Campbell for his annual enforced moult.

Once penguins achieve their adult plumage, they do not change the pattern of it in any way during the moults.  The pictures below of African Penguins were taken in successive seasons on Boulders Beach, so the birds must have moulted in between.  Nevertheless, we were easily able to recognise the birds from the patterns of spots that had not changed in the slightest in the moults.

Moulting is extremely important to penguins as they need to maintain their feathers in tip top condition at all times.  The feathers come in two layers and serve two purposes.  The bottom layer of downy feathers provides thermal insulation by trapping a layer of air close to the skin and helps keep the birds warm in the cold waters where they fish and for the Antarctic species in the cold air where they breed.  The top layer of interlocking waterproof feathers keep the cold water away from their skin and act like a dry diving suit so that they can easily survive in the very cold Antarctic and sub-Antarctic waters.

Adult penguins breed every year (except the Kings who can usually only raise at most two chicks every three years).  In most species the males return first to the nest sites in the colony and try to attract a female.  Females look for strong healthy males who will be able to help with the exhausting process of chick rearing.  The degree of pair fidelity between seasons is greatest in the penguins with the shortest breeding seasons (ie the Antarctic penguins: Emperors, Adelies, etc.) and lowest amongst those where there is an extended breeding season (ie the warm weather penguins; Humboldts, Africans, etc.).  There is a clear advantage in continuing with a previously successful partnership especially when precious time can be saved by avoiding the lengthy rituals of finding a new partner.

Once a pair have formed they will generally perform regular rituals to strengthen the bond between themselves and to ensure that later, when one will go out to sea while the other incubates the nest, they will be able to recognise one another easily.  These rituals come in many forms: there are ritual displays and calling, males will often present their female partners with stones or other nesting material, pairs will often preen each other taking care of the feathers that individual birds can find it very hard to reach, etc.

As soon as the bond between is well established they will mate to fertilise the eggs. In each species there is a careful sequence of displays between the male and female to help co-ordinate a successful mating. 

Depending on the species the eggs can be laid from one to three weeks after mating.

Female penguins can be quite devious.  In several species (certainly Adelies and Yellow-eyed penguins have been seen behaving in this way) some females select their partners for their reliability in raising chicks, but will mate surreptitiously with other bolder and less caring males on their way to and from the sea.  Thus they try to ensure the best chance of survival for their chicks by having a caring "father" to raise them, but at the same time giving them genes from a more aggressive and, by implication, successful male.

We don't know how long penguins live in the wild, there simply haven't been enough long term population studies as yet.  The best information available is that penguins tend to live for about 20 years.

Penguin Evolution

It is generally agreed amongst biologists and archeologists that penguins evolved, somewhere in the Southern hemisphere, from a flying ancestor around 140,000,000 to 65,000,000 years ago.  The common ancestor is assumed to have been somewhat similar to a modern-day diving petrel, or auk in appearance and behaviour.  In the 1930's it was mooted that the evolution of penguins occured before the development of flight in birds; however, this suggestion is largely discounted these days.

The fossil evidence is rather sparse and no intermediate species between a flying ancestor and the flightless pengiuns has ever been discovered.  accordingly many authors take the view that speciation was very rapid as the penguins developed with many distinct species appearing in a relatively short period around 50 to 100 million years ago.

The closest flying relatives of the penguins today are the Procellaridae (the Albatross and Petrels) and the Gaviidae (the Divers).

Fossil record

1 . Scientists recognize 32 species of extinct penguins (del Hoyo, et al., 1992).

2. Penguins probably evolved from flying birds more than 40 million years ago (Davis and Darby, 1990; Sparks and Soper, 1987). As the ancestors of penguins became adapted to an oceanic environment, structural changes for diving and swimming required the loss of flying adaptations (Simpson, 1976).

3. To date, the discovery of all penguin fossil fragments has been limited to the Southern Hemisphere. Records show that prehistoric penguins were found within the range of present-day penguins (Sparks and Soper, 1987).

a. The first penguin fossil fragments were found in New Zealand in the mid-1800s. One fossil penguin, Palaeeudyptes antarcticus, lived in the Eocene Period (38 to 42 million years ago) (Carroll, 1988). It was estimated to stand 1.2 to 1.5 m (4-5 ft.). This specimen is maintained in London's British Natural History Museum (Simpson, 1976).

b. Fossil records show that the largest extinct species lived in the Miocene Period (11 to 25 million years ago). Pachydyptes ponderosus probably stood 1.4 to 1.5 m (4.5-5 ft.) and may have weighed 90 to 135 kg (198-298 lb.), and Anthropomis nordenskjoldi probably stood 1.5 to 1.8 m (5-5.9 ft.) and weighed 90 to 135 kg (1 98-298 lb.) (Sparks and Soper, 1987). Measurements are estimates, since only a few bone fragments have been found.

4. Scientists believe that ancient penguins began disappearing about the same time that the number of prehistoric seals and small whales started increasing in the oceans. Some scientists hypothesize that seals, whales, and penguins may have competed for the same food source, and that the penguins may have become prey themselves. Both factors may have contributed to their extinction (Simpson, 1976).

5. The closest living relatives to penguins are in the order Procellariiformes (the albatrosses, shearwaters, and petrels) (Sparks and Soper, 1987), and the order Gaviiformes (loons and grebes) (del Hoyo, et al., 1992). DNA studies also suggest a relationship with the frigatebirds (order Pelecaniformes) (del Hoyo, et al., 1992).

Penguin Species

The 17 species of penguins form the largest group of flightless birds. Although most people seem to associate penguins with the cold Antarctic regions, in fact penguins can be found around the coasts of most islands in the Southern Ocean. The most northerly penguins are found on the Galapagos Islands which straddle the equator.

Adelie p.
African (Jackass)
Chinstrap p.
Emperor p.
Erect-crested
Fiorlan p.
Galapagos p.
Gentoo p.
Humboldt p.
Impereal p.
King p.
Little (Blue) p.
Macaroni p.
Magellanic p.
Rockhopper p.
Royal p.
Snares p.
Yellowed-eyed p.

Adilie Pygoscelis adeliae
Description: The Adelie penguin has a solid black head, white
eye ring, and a stubby bill that is feathered at the base. This
penguin species is most recognized as the "little guy wearing a
tuxedo".
Legal Status: Their population is considered stable.
Diet: They feed on small shoaling animals, small fish and
various crustaceans.
Breeding Range: Antarctica, South Shetlands, South Orkneys,
Bouvet, Balleny and Peter Island

Adilie Penguins: Around the World

Adilie Penguins Page   Breeding facts and other cool info on these traditional tuxedo penguins.

African or Jackass Spheniscus demersus
Description: The African penguin is a medium?sized penguin
with black spotting on its chest and belly. It has a broad black
band across its chest and black and white facial patterns.
Legal Status: The population is vulnerable and has been in
decline.
Diet: African penguins feed on school?fish, like sardines and
anchovies.
Breeding Range: Namibia and South Africa ? African penguins
are usually found close to the shore at sea, coming on shore to
breed, moult and rest. Their nest?burrows are usually dug as a
colony.

African Penguin   From Enchanted Learning

Chinstrap Pygoscelis antarctica
Description: The distinct Chinstrap, penguin has a black thin line
of feathers that appear to go from the black top of the head
towards the chin, like a strap for a cap. It has a slender black bill
and pale pink feet.
Legal Status: The Chinstrap population appears to be stable.
Diet: Chinstraps feed mostly on krill.
Breeding Range: South Sandwich Islands, Antarctic Peninsula,
South Orkneys, South Shetlands, South Georgia, Bouvet,
Balleny and Peter Island

Chinstrap Facts   Short page of facts about this penguin also known as the stonebreaker

Chinstrap Penguin: Animal Nation   Chinstrap penguins are part of a group of brush-tailed penguins that include adelie and gentoo penguins.

Chinstrap Penguins: Around the World   Facts and photos of these penguins that are said to be the most numerous in the world.

Chinstrap Penguins: Pete and Barb    Facts about these penguins that literally have a black strap under their chins!

Emperor Aptenodytes forsteri
Description: Emperor penguins are the largest and heaviest of
all the penguin species. They have wide yellow patches on each
side of the head with a golden color on the upper breast. Their
blue-gray back is separated from their white lower body by a
narrow black border.
Legal Status: The King population is considered stable.
Diet: The Emperor penguin feeds primarily on fish and squid,
but whenever it comes across small crustaceans, it doesn't refuse
them.
Breeding Range: Antarctica

Emperor Penguin

Emperor Penguin Printout   Enchanted Learning

Emperor Penguins: Story and discusion quetions

Erect-crested Eudyptes sclateri
Description: The Erect-crested penguin is a medium-sized,
yellow-crested, black and white penguin. Standing about 60 cm
(23.6 inches), it is different from all other crested penguins
because the bright yellow eyebrow?stripe extends upward over
the eye.
Legal Status: In 2000, the population was declared endangered.
Diet: Erect-crested penguins feed on krill and squid and
occasionally eat small fish.
Breeding Range: Antipodes and Bounty Islands  Erect-crested
penguins nest in large, dense colonies on rocky land, often
without much soil or plant life.

Fiordland Eudyptes pachyrhynchus
Description: Fiordland penguins are medium-sized, yellow-
crested, black and white penguins. Standing about 60 cm (23.6
inches) tall, they are the only crested penguins with white stripes
on their cheeks.
Legal Status: In 2000, the population was found to be
vulnerable.
Diet: Fiordland penguins feed on fish, squid, octopus and krill.
Breeding Range: New Zealand - Fiordland penguins prefer to
breed in colonies in dense, temperate rainforest along shores and
rocky coastlines. Sometimes they prefer sandy bays.

Galapagos Spheniscus mendiculus
Description: The Galapagos Penguin is the smallest of the South
American penguins, about 53 cm Oust under 21 inches) tall. It
has a black head with a white border around its eye, ear and chin.
It also has two black bands across its chest.
Legal Status: The Galapagos Penguins are endangered. They
have the smallest breeding range and population size of any
penguin, with less than a thousand breeding pairs.
Diet: They feed on small tropical fish and crustaceans.
Breeding Range: Galapagos Islands ? Galapagos penguins live
the farthest north of all the penguins, right near the equator!

Galapagos Penguin: Pete and Barbs    Includes info on their looks and behavior.

Gentoo Pygoscelis papua
Description: The Gentoo penguin has a white patch across its
brow, a red bill and yellow?orange feet.
Legal Status: The Gentoo population appears to be stable.
Diet: Gentoo penguins eat small fish, crustaceans, and squid.
Breeding Range: South Sandwich Islands, Antarctic Peninsula,
South Orkneys, South Shetlands, South Georgia, Bouvet,
Balleny and Peter Island

Gentoo Penguins: Around the World

Gentoo Penguins: Pete and Barbs   Vital stats on this bird, including their height, weight, breeding locations, and more.

Penguin Chicks   Pictures from Sea World

Humboldt  niscus humboldti
Description: The Humboldt Penguin stands about 65 cm (25.6
inches) tall. It has a black head and white border around its eye,
ear, and chin. Humboldt penguins have a single white and black
band under their throat.
Legal Status: This population is vulnerable and has been in
decline.
Diet: Humboldt penguins feed on small fish near the coastline.
Breeding Range: Northern Chile & Peru

King Aptenodytes patagonicus
Description: The King penguin is the world's second largest
penguin. King penguins have longer beak and flippers than
Emperor penguins. Their feathers are deeper colors that the
Emperor penguins. King penguins are about 90 cm (3 feet).
Legal Status: The King population is considered stable.
Diet: King penguins feed upon crustaceans, small fish, squid and
plankton.
Breeding Range: Marion, Prince Edward, Crozet, Kerguelen,
Heard, Macquarie, South Georgia and Falkland Islands

King

King Penguin

King Penguin: Creature World

Little or Fairy Eudyptula minor
Description: The Little or Fairy penguins are the only penguins
found in Australia, although they also appear in New Zealand.
They are the smallest of all the penguin species ? generally
weighing around I kg (2.2 pounds) and measuring around 25 cm
(9.8 inches) tall.
Legal Status: The population seems to be stable.
Diet: Little penguins feed on small fishes.
Breeding Range: Australia and New Zealand

Little Penguin: Australian Wildlife   Tons of facts about the habitat, diet, lifestyle, predators, and behavior of this swimming birds.

Little Penguin: Pete and Barb    Facts chart.

Macaroni Eudyptes chrysolophus
Description: The Macaroni penguin is a large, crested penguin
with a black face and orange?yellow plumes that start on its
forehead and droop around behind the eyes. It stands about 71
cm (about 28 inches) tall.
Legal Status: In 2000, the population was found to be
vulnerable.
Diet: Macaroni penguins feed on krill, fish and squid
Breeding Range: South Georgia, South Sandwich, South
Orkneys, South Shetlands, Bouvet, Prince Edward, Marion,
Crozet, Kerguelen, Heard, Falklands, Chile, Argentina and
Antarctic Peninsula.

Macaroni Penguin Background Information   Learn about this penguin and the very similar Royal penguin. See great photos too!

Macaroni Penguins: Penguins Around the World   Facts and photos of this bird that's named for its flashy feathers.

Macaroni Penguin Picture

Magellanic Spheniscus magellanicus
Description: The Magellanic Penguin looks similar to the
Humboldt penguin except it has a second dark band under its
throat. It is only found around the Falkland Islands and South
America, but it is extremely numerous within these regions,
They are from the same Genus as the Humboldt penguin.
Legal Status: Their population is stable, but may be threatened
by continued oil spills and other human activities.
Diet: Their diet consists primarily of marine crustaceans and
small fish.
Breeding Range: Southern Chile, Argentina and Falkland
Islands

 PenguinExtra Credit

List all of the 17 species of penguins.

On a world map locate the habitats of different penguins.

Make a menu for a penguins diet.

Create a personal penguin book
     To create the personal penguin book, students need to find pictures of each specie and write one 
      sentence about that specie.

Penguins WebQuest   Have you ever wanted to know more about how special penguins are? Your quest is to learn some amazing facts about penguins. On this fascinating adventure, you will gather information about different kinds of penguins and their habitat, diet, and special features.

 Penguin Web Sites

Brief Species Note   Pete and Barbara's Penguin Page

Falkland Penguins   Fifteen million penguins live in the South Atlantic (excluding sub-Antarctic and Antarctic areas). A large proportion of these are to be found in the the Falkland Islands which hold the world's largest concentration of Rockhopper Penguins and a quarter of the world population of Gentoo penguins, with three other breeding species (King, Magellanic and Macaroni).

Fun Facts About Penguins

Learn to Draw a Penguin

Penguin Drawings

Penguin Jokes   Enchanted Learning

Penguin Printouts   Enchanted Learing

Penguin Quizes

Penguins   A Sea World Education Department Resource

Penguins: Antarctic Connection   When one thinks of Antarctic wildlife, penguins are often the first animals that come to mind.

Penguins Around the World

Penguins Fact Sheet

Penguins: World Almanac For Kids On Line

 Penguin Paper

Penguin Book Cover

Penguin Food Chain

Penguin Lined Page

Penguin Lined Paper

Penguin Unlined Paper

Penguin Writing Paper

Write a Story Peguin Paper

 Penguin Coloring Pages

African Penguin

Penguin Color by the Number

Penguin With Chick

Penguin With Eggs


Penguin Puzzles & Games

Penguin Wordsearch