Interesting Facts About Emperor Penguins

admin November 6, 2011 0

There are eighteen types of penguin in this whole world. Although thirteen species are declining, some species are blooming.
Southern Hemisphere is the only place where Penguins are found. Although many people relate penguins with Antarctica, they are wide-spread animal and can also be found in Africa, New Zealand, South America and Australia.
The northern species of penguin is the Galapagos penguin that lives near the equator all the year.
While swimming, penguins jump over the water surface, an exercise known as porpoising. This covers their plumage with small bubbles that reduce friction, so that they can swim faster than 20 mph (32 kph).
The Penguins had lost the capability to fly thousands and thousands of years ago, Even though their powerful flipper and sleek bodies make them very successful swimmers. Among any other birds, penguins are the fastest swimming and deepest diving species.
The classic white color in the front and black color in the back penguin plumage is known as countershading that provides an excellent cover up to protect penguins in the water from above and below.
The penguins are carnivores because they eat live foods from the sea for living. Based on their different types they can eat a wide-range of different sea creatures such as squid, fish, krill, shrimp and other crustaceans.
Penguins’ eye works much better in the water than in the open air. It gives them outstanding vision to spot prey while hunting, even in gloomy or dirty water.
The largest penguin species are the emperor penguin, which may weighs up to ninety pounds. On the other hand, the smallest species are the fairy penguin that weighs only 2 pounds.
The yellow-eyed penguin is thought to be the rarest types with only around 5,000 in total. They can only be discovered along the southeast coast of New Zealand and neighbouring islands.
Penguins form breeding colonies as a social bird, numbering up to the tens of thousands. They might also use the same nesting place for thousands of years and the same colonies for millions of years.
The emperor and king species penguins do not nest. Rather, one single egg for each mated couple is protected on a parent’s feet and kept heated by a flap of their skin known as the marsupium or brood pouch.
The male emperor penguins incubate the eggs for two months without eating during the winter, when females are at sea. Throughout the time, they depend on their fat reserves and might lose half of their weight. When the female come back soon after the baby birds hatch, they exchange their parental roles and the female fast.
A wild penguin could live up to 15-20 years, based on their different species. They spend around 75% of their lives in the sea, in that time.
Depending on the territory, Penguins have many natural predators such as foxes, orcas, sharks, sea lions, leopard seals and snakes. Man-made threats also create a problem for penguins like oils spills and other contamination. Global warming, however, changes the food distribution chain and poaching and egg harvesting.