ALL THE SECRETS THAT MAKE PENGUINS SO SURPRISING!

Penguins are  flightless seabirds  that live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere ☀. They include the tiny blue penguins of Australia and New Zealand, the majestic emperor penguins of Antarctica and the king penguins found on many underwater islands, the endangered African penguin, and the Galapagos penguin, the only penguin found north of the equator.  A thick layer of blubber and oily, tightly packed feathers  help them cope with colder temperatures.

The stocky appearance and short legs of penguins have endeared them to people around the world. Although they are birds,  penguins have flippers instead of wings . They cannot fly and, on land, they waddle by walking upright, although in snowy conditions they glide on their bellies. In the water, they are expert swimmers and divers, and some species can reach speeds of 25 km/h (15 mph) thanks to their flippers that propel their streamlined bodies. When they want to go faster, they often take to swimming like a porpoise or leap out of the water while swimming. 

1) The Penguin in 10 Seconds TOP Chrono

• COMMON NAME:  Penguins
• SCIENTIFIC NAME:  Spheniscidae
• DIET:  Carnivore?
• HABITATS:  Oceans, coasts
• GROUP NAME:  Colony
• AVERAGE LIFESPAN:  15 - 20 years
• SIZE:  40 cm - 1 m 14
• WEIGHT:  1 - 40 kg

2) What is the difference between penguins and penguins? 

A- The Main Difference

Penguins are black ⚫ and white ⚪ birds, just like penguins. But they belong to completely different families.  Penguins are located in the Northern Hemisphere ⬆ , and there is only one species currently, the Little Penguin. It is the only species of penguin since the Great Auk disappeared in 1844 because of Man. The main characteristic that differentiates the penguin from the penguin is the following.  The penguin  has kept a primitive characteristic, it  can fly  !

So penguins, unlike penguins, live in  the southern hemisphere ⬇ and cannot fly? Today there are still several species of penguins.

B- The Origin of a Misunderstanding

Popular belief confuses the penguin and the penguin, due to their fairly similar appearances, and especially because in all other languages,  the word for the penguin is very close to the word "Penguin" . In English, penguin is said "Penguin" ??, a bad translation of this word is therefore at the origin of this error made by many of us. Moreover, throughout this article, just like popular belief, the terms penguin and penguin can be confused.

3) General Characteristics

The 18 different species of penguins can vary greatly in shape and size, but all have black bodies and white bellies. This protective backlighting  helps them hide from predators  such as leopard seals and killer whales while they swim. The rare colouration, limited to the red or yellow iris of the eye in some species, the red beak or feet in a few species, the yellow eyebrow tufts in the three species of Eudyptes, and the orange and yellow on the head, neck and chest in emperor and king penguins

In fact,  they spend most of their lives in the ocean –  and do almost all of their hunting for krill (small shrimp), squid and crabs underwater. Their distinctive colours (a black body with a white belly) also help them camouflage themselves in the water when looking for a meal.

Total populations of some species, such as the emperor penguin, are estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands, but most  small penguin species are likely to number in the millions . Huge island breeding colonies, some teeming with hundreds of thousands of breeding pairs, represent an important potential food resource, but the economic importance of penguins is negligible. 

In the 19th century, whalers and sealers visited some colonies for meat and eggs, and  a penguin oil industry once took large numbers of birds.  By the early 20th century, however, this exploitation was no longer profitable, and most colonies were left to fend for themselves or actively protected.

Some species are now increasing in number, apparently due to the decimation of Antarctic whales in the mid-20th century, which compete with penguins for the krill (tiny crustaceans) they both feed on.  Penguin populations, however, are very vulnerable to changes in climate  and ocean temperature, including recent global warming. Penguins are also very sensitive to human-induced declines in local fish populations.

4) Climate Change and its Effects

About two-thirds of penguin species are listed as threatened on the IUCN Red List , making them one of the  most endangered seabirds . Habitat loss and diseases spread by tourists are also threats to them.

Commercial fishing  in the Southern Ocean is also a major concern, as it has reduced the fish supply to the Antarctic Peninsula by about half. This forces many penguins to compete for food and puts them at risk of being accidentally caught in fishing nets.

Climate change  is one of the biggest threats to penguin populations. Warming polar regions ♨ have melted sea ice, which penguins rely on to find food and build their nests. With rapidly changing conditions, Antarctica could lose most of its penguins to climate change by the end of the century. To survive, they may have to move to new habitats.

A 2008 WWF study estimated that 50% of emperor penguins and 75% of Adélie penguins  are likely to decline or disappear  if global average temperatures rise by just 2°C above pre-industrial levels – a scenario that could be achieved in less than 40 years.

5) The Predators

A- Predators at Sea

The main enemies of penguins at sea are  the leopard seal  (Leopard seal), the killer whale ( Orca ).  Seals  also take penguins near Australia, New Zealand and other subantarctic regions. Leopard seals, which reach more than 350 kg and more than 4 m for the largest specimens, can eat up to 15 penguins per day ?‍?. These predators mainly attack these prey in the sea while the parents go to look for food for their young or even during the first swims of the little penguins. But it can also attack penguins on land, which remains rarer.

Penguins still have many other predators at sea, such as  the great white shark ,  the Weddell seal ,  the Hooker sea lion  and  the Cape fur seal  which is the main predator of the African penguin.

To eat their prey, leopard seals shake penguins in the water to detach the flesh from the bones. The orca, despite its disproportionate size compared to its prey, does not like to eat penguins with their feathers. To remedy this, with its powerful tongue, it compresses the penguin against its palate to keep only the penguin organs and flesh and throws the rest back into the ocean. Despite its many predators, that's not all,  penguins also have predators on land .

B- Predators on Earth

On land, predators are only  birds that have the advantage of flight  over penguins. Penguins gather in colonies, and when they are all together, they are safe. So the birds attack the eggs, the chicks that stray from the group, and the weakened penguins. Only the largest specimens of birds sometimes attack healthy adult penguins. Often, these predators hunt penguins in groups to increase their chances of success.

The main predators on land? are:

• The Antarctic Skua  (Catharacta antarctica). Their strategies require them to work in pairs. One bird will distract the parent who is caring for the egg or chick on land and the other has the task of attacking it. 
• The Antarctic Giant Petrel 
• The Greater Sheathbill  (Chionis alba). 

• Forster's Caracara  (Phalcoboenus australis). It only attacks chicks and is only found in the Falkland Islands. 
• Wilson's Petrel  (Oceanites oceanicus)
• The Dominican Gull . 

Outside the Subantarctic and Antarctic islands, in warmer territories, other predators are present such as  the Fox?, the  Snake  ? and for the Cape penguin,  the ibis .

6) Eating Habits

The type of food used varies with species, geographic region, and time of year. Most southern penguins feed primarily on  krill  (small shrimps that whales also eat), which reach high densities in the rich, well-oxygenated waters of the Antarctic. Cephalopods ( squid  and  cuttlefish ) and  small fish   can make up significant portions of the diet. In some, such as the African penguin, fish is the staple of the diet. The total weight of food consumed by a large penguin colony is prodigious, often exceeding several tons per day.

7) Locomotion and Orientation

A- Locomotion in the Ocean and Life on Earth

Penguins are adapted for rapid locomotion in water, where the wings (flippers) serve as propulsion;  these birds "fly" underwater . When moving at high speed, they frequently leave the water in leaps that can carry them a meter or more into the air; it is during this time that they breathe.

On land, penguins are much clumsier, even funny, because they tend to waddle  , hop  ,  or  run with their bodies tilted forward . However, despite their short legs, penguins can run with surprising speed. Some, such as northern penguins (Eudyptes moseleyi), southern penguins (E. chrysocome), and Adélie penguins, move between rocks with agility, using their flippers for balance ?‍♀. Polar penguins can cover long distances quickly by "sliding" across the ice, that is, sliding on their bellies and pushing forward with their feet. 

B- Survival and Orientation

The flippers, along with the beak, are the main weapons of defense and attack. If it is particularly cold,  penguins gather in large colonies  that protect them from predators and provide them with warmth. These colonies are made up of thousands, even millions of penguins.

Scientists have long wondered how penguins can find their way back to their colonies from the open sea, where currents may have carried them great distances. There is also the question of how they are able to navigate properly on land in the absence of well-defined landmarks. Studies of penguins transported to the Antarctic interior have shown that they are able to find their way back to the ocean using  the sun as a directional aid.  It is likely that the same means of orientation is used at sea. As they approach the coast, they are able to recognize features of the coastline and the ocean floor.

8) Reproduction

A- The Egg, the Chick and the Youth

Penguins come ashore to  lay their eggs and raise their chicks . Most penguins stay with their mate for many years and lay only one or two eggs at a time. Emperor penguins lay one egg and king penguins like all others lay two or sometimes three.

Incubation of eggs is performed by both sexes  in all species except the emperor penguin, where it is performed exclusively by the male ♂️, and begins immediately after laying. With the advent of incubation, the agitation and myriad calls that characterized mating give way to calm and inactivity. Poor incubation behavior by inexperienced birds frequently results in abandonment or rupture of eggs.

The mortality rate (eggs and chicks) is very high at the egg stage, varying from year to year depending on climatic conditions, the percentage of young birds in the breeding population and the pressure of predation. In general, the mortality rate (eggs and chicks) is 40 to 80% of the eggs laid. In coastal colonies,  predators are a  significant threat to eggs and chicks . These predators range from the orca to the leopard seal (for chicks) to the  skua  (for eggs). On the Australian, African and South American continents, the nocturnal habits of some penguins and the fact that they nest in burrows considerably limit predation, which is mainly done by gulls and humans.

After laying, the female usually goes to sea to feed, returning to relieve her mate after about 10 to 20 days. Thereafter, the father and mother alternate for periods of a week or two. The female emperor penguin, however, often has to walk 50 to 100 miles (80 to 160 km) from the colony to the sea and does not return until the end of the incubation period. During  the 64-day incubation period , which extends into the depths of the Antarctic winter, the male emperor penguin incubates the egg, holding it on its feet, and living on stored fat reserves. During severe winter storms, members of the colony gather to protect each other from the wind and cold in tight crowds called "huddles."

Emergence from the shell takes 24 to 48 hours, during which time the brooding parent is particularly irritable. The chick exhibits  feeding behavior immediately upon hatching , receiving a regurgitated "soup" of crustaceans or fish by inserting its beak into the parent's open mouth. For its first few days, the young bird is sheltered under the body of one of its parents, who take turns foraging and brooding. 

As the young bird grows, it remains close to its parent, although the young are able to maintain their body heat and move around on their own.  The chick then joins a group of about a hundred other birds  in a nursery or crèche group. This group is sometimes guarded by a few adults while both parents forage at sea. When they return with food, the chicks listen to the unique audio frequency of their parents' calls, allowing them to gather in a large and noisy crowd. 

The growth period of the young bird , from hatching to complete independence, varies from two months in the smallest species of the genus Eudyptula to 5.5 months in the emperor penguin and 12 to 14 months in the king penguin.

During the breeding season,  the number of "unemployed" adults  in the colony increases with the addition of those who have lost eggs or chicks. In emperor penguin colonies, these unemployed birds often interfere with parents who have young and cause increased mortality.

B- The Moult

At the crèche stage, the down that has covered the chick since hatching is replaced by a coat of short, stiff feathers, similar to those of the adult but usually somewhat different in colour. Once this molt is complete,  the young leave the colony  to seek its own food at sea. 

Adult penguins also begin to molt all their feathers once a year  shortly after the chick has fledged. Unlike some birds that shed a few feathers at a time, penguins shed all their feathers at once. They must fast during this time since they cannot hunt without their waterproof feathers because during the molt the bird cannot enter the water. It retreats to a communal molting site usually located in a sheltered area away from the colony. The duration of the molt varies from about two weeks in small species to over a month in larger species.

C- Geography and Variations

Many features of the penguin life cycle vary depending on body size and geographic distribution; the timing of reproduction can also vary within a species depending on latitude. Most species  breed only once a year . Some species, such as the African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) and the blue penguin, breed twice a year. While the king penguin breeds twice in three years.

Most penguins begin breeding in the spring or austral (southern) summer. King penguins have a 14–18 month cycle, and the timing of breeding for an individual pair depends on the success or failure of the previous breeding attempt. Some populations of papua penguins also breed in winter. Emperor penguin breeding begins in autumn, apparently at a time when the long development period allows for the production of young in midsummer, when  the chances of survival are greatest .

The African penguin is notable for its  lack of synchronicity  between populations, but otherwise its breeding schedule is essentially comparable to that of most other species. In the Crozet Islands off southern Africa, for example, laying occurs in July. The two eggs are incubated for 35 or 36 days, and the chick-rearing process lasts two months. The last immature birds go to sea in January.

D- Looking for a Partner

Many types of visual and vocal displays are used  between the birds' arrival at the colony and their departure. Courtship calls are used during mating and, to a lesser extent, during successive phases of reproduction. There are marked vocal differences between the sexes in emperor and king penguins and less marked dimorphisms in some other species.

Upon arrival at the colony, each bird returns to the nest it left the previous year and  usually rejoins its mate from the previous year , unless the latter's death forces it to choose another partner. This even applies to the emperor penguin, which is able to find its mate despite the lack of a nest and the large size of the colony.

The displays that occur during colony reassembly and mate-searching, as well as those that precede copulation, are quite similar in most species, but the vocalizations that accompany them are more diverse. Different species have been described as  trumpets ,  croaks ,  clucks  , and  coos . 

Members of the genus Spheniscus are called jackass penguins for the braying sounds they make.  The behavior of birds  with more experience is more elaborate and efficient than that of young individuals. For example, Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) may return to the breeding colony as early as their third year but do not breed successfully until their fifth or sixth year.

9) Form and Function

A- Adapted to the Aquatic Environment

Penguins are highly specialized for their flightless aquatic existence . The feet are located much further back than those of other birds, so that the bird mostly walks upright; its gait can therefore be described as plantigrade (i.e., on the soles of its feet). The sole includes the entire foot and not just the toes, as in other birds. The most notable feature of this group is the transformation of the forelimb into a paddle ?. This transformation is accompanied by a body morphology particularly adapted to movement in a liquid environment.

The rib cage is well developed, and the sternum bears a pronounced keel for the attachment of the pectoral muscles, which move the flippers. The flipper has the same skeletal basis as the wing of birds in flight. With its shortened and flattened elements, producing a relatively rigid limb covered in very short feathers (an ideal organ for rapid propulsion).  The body plumage is also made up of very short feathers , which minimizes friction and turbulence. The density of the plumage and the layer of air it retains provide almost complete insulation of the body.

B- The Fight against Cold and Salt Water

The insulation of the bird's body is particularly important for Antarctic species that live in waters that are always below 0 °C. The cooling power of seawater at -1.9 °C is equal to that of a temperature of -20 °C with a wind of 110 km/h.  The skin is insulated by a layer of air  trapped under the plumage, and the only bare skin in direct contact with the water is that of the feet. In the case of the emperor penguin on land, the feet are in almost constant contact with the ice ?. The skin temperature is around 0 °C and the snow does not melt on contact.

This is possible due to remarkable anatomical arrangements in the lower limb, where closely adjacent arteries and veins form a heat exchange system between opposing blood flows. This arrangement allows the cooled blood of the feet to absorb the heat of the flowing blood, thus providing  maximum heat saving  compatible with the functioning of the foot.

Like other seabirds,  penguins have salt glands  that allow them to ingest salt from seawater. Excess chloride is excreted in the form of a solution whose concentration is higher than that of seawater. These glands are located above the eyes and are already functional in the young chick, which begins to consume foods of marine origin from its first day of life.

Recent research has shown that more geographically isolated species, such as  the emperor penguin, can be prone to disease . Some, such as the Adélie penguin, carry traces of pollutants in their bodies, although in lower amounts than those found in many birds that live closer to humans.

10) Evolution

Paleontological evidence indicates that penguins and the order Procellariiformes (albatrosses, shearwaters  , and petrels ) had a common origin. Both groups are represented by  well-defined fossils dating back about 50 million years . The flightless sphenisciform line produced a number of distinctive lateral branches, all recognizable in penguins, some of which are giant in size. All the penguin fossil remains have been collected from the present range of the Sphenisciformes. Some apparently lived in warmer regions than most penguins today.

Phylogenetic analysis of living and fossil penguins shows that the group evolved large body sizes early in its history. For example, two of the largest known fossil penguins—Acadyptes, which was about 1.5 meters tall, and Anthropornis, which was about 1.8 meters tall—date to the Eocene (56 to 33.9 million years ago). Living penguins form a distinct lineage characterized by smaller, highly aquatic species—that began about 8 million years ago. The relatively small size of living penguins is therefore a geologically recent phenomenon that postdates the original radiation of giant penguins.

11) Order Sphenisciforme (Penguins)

18 species  of a single family (Spheniscidae) with 6 genera found in the oceans of the southern hemisphere; fin-like wings for underwater propulsion; short, robust webbed feet; upright posture; short, dense feathers, moulted in plates; length 35–115 cm; fossil forms up to 180 cm. 

• Genus Eudyptes  (crested penguins)

7 species: Erect crest, Fiordland, Macaroni, Northern locust, Southern locust, King locust and Collared locust.

• Genus Spheniscus  (black-footed penguins, or jackass penguins)

4 species: African, Galapagos, Humboldt and Magellanic.

• Genus Pygoscelis

3 species: Adélie, chinstrap and gentoo.

• Genus Aptenodytes

2 species: emperor and king.

• Genus Eudyptula  (blue penguin)

1 species, also called little penguin or fairy penguin.

• Genus Megadyptes  (yellow-eyed penguin)

1 species.

12) The Great Penguin

The great auk (Pinguinus impennis), also called the penguin, a flightless seabird,  extinct since 1844. Great auks belonged to the family Alcidae. They bred in colonies on rocky islands off the coast of the North Atlantic; fossil remains have been found as far away as Florida, Spain, and Italy. The body of the great auk was about 75 cm long; the wings, which were used for swimming underwater, were less than 15 cm long. The large black bill had eight or more transverse grooves. The bird stood upright on land. Its back and head were black, its forehead white, and there was a large white patch between the bill and the eye.

Completely defenseless,  great auks were killed by hunters  for food and bait, especially in the early 1800s. The birds were captured in huge numbers, often driven onto a plank and shot en route to a ship's hold. The last known specimens were killed in June 1844 on the island of Eldey, Iceland. About 80 great auks and a similar number of their eggs are preserved in museums.