Posted by Janet Harriett on Sep.01, 2009

African penguin ⓒ Janet Harriett

Welcome to GreenDivaMom’s new wildlife conservation feature! Each month, we will explore an animal in depth to appreciate human beings’ place in and effect on the global ecosystem. For September, we will explore the animal that has been the poster bird for environmental activism since the hole in the ozone layer: the penguin.

Types of Penguins

There are between 17 and 20 species of penguins. Biologists do not agree on whether a few types of penguins are distinct species or not. These penguins are divided into 6 subfamilies.

Aptenodytes, the Great penguins, include the Emperor and King penguin. Emperor penguins, featured in March of the Penguins, are the largest penguin species, with a full-grown Emperor about the size of an average 8-year-old child. King Penguins have markings that resemble the Emperor, but King penguins are smaller and do not live in Antarctica.

Pygoscelis, Brush-Tailed penguins, include the Adelie, Chinstrap and Gentoo penguins. These are the stereotypical penguins that are fully black on the back and white on the front. Their tails are longer than the other types of penguins. All three grow to between 28 and 32 inches tall

Spheniscus, Banded penguins, include the Magellanic, Humboldt, Galapagos and African penguins, which all have similar bands of black within their white belly feathers. Banded penguins are warm-weather animals, living in temperate coastal areas. Because they can tolerate warmer temperatures on a movie or TV set, banded penguins are often used in Hollywood productions. Banded penguins are between 2 and 2 1/2 feet tall.

Eudyptes, Crested Penguins, are noted for long yellow feathers above their eyes. The Crested Penguin subfamily has the most species, with between 4 and 7 depending on how some are classified. Members of the crested species subfamily include Rockhopper, Macaroni, Snares, Fiordland, and Erect-Crested penguins. Crested Penguins are about the same size as the Banded Penguins.

Megadyptes, Yellow-Eyed Penguins, have only one species, the Yellow-Eyed penguin, which is becoming more rare as its coastal forest habitat is depleted. Unlike other penguins, Yellow-Eyed Penguins are solitary. In addition to the yellow feathers on its head, the Yellow-Eyed Penguin has distinct yellow eyes.

Eudyptula, the Little Penguin, is the smallest penguin species. Little Blue Penguins, sometimes called Fairy Penguins, grow to about 16 inches tall and live on the coasts of Australia and New Zealand, where they frequently cross paths with humans who also live there.

Habitat

Only three of the species–Emperor, Adelie and Chinstrap–live in Antarctica. The rest are found on the islands of the southern oceans and in the coastal areas of southern South America, southern Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania. One species lives on the Galapagos Islands near the Equator, but none live in the northern hemisphere outside of zoos and aquariums. The Emperors gather in nesting colonies on the Antarctic ice. Most other colonies are found in coastal areas. The Banded Penguins nest on beaches, creating burrows cemented together with their own excrement.

Diet

Penguins are piscivorous, a type of carnivore that eats only fish and other seafood. Individual species have particular dietary preferences based on their hunting habits, but most eat squid, small shrimp and krill, a shrimplike animal known mostly to humans as the source of krill oil, a potent source of Omega-3 fatty acids.

Conservation Status

Loss of nesting areas, oil pollution and fishing all threaten penguins. Penguins get caught unintentionally in nets, and are sometimes killed for use as bait in small-scale fishing operations. Four species of penguins are endangered: Northern Rockhopper, Yellow-Eyed Penguins, Erect-Crested and Galapagos. Eight others–Magellanic, Humboldt, African, Gentoo, Snares, Fiordland, Macaroni and Southern Rockhopper–are either near-threatened or vulnerable (source).

Penguin Life

As with all birds, penguin chicks hatch from eggs. Some species in the warmer climates may hatch two chicks each mating season, but one chick per pair is more common. Penguin chicks are born with fluffy brownish down feathers that aren’t waterproof. When they are a few months old, the juveniles fledge and get their adult feathers, which are waterproof so they can swim and hunt for themselves.

Some species maintain permanent colonies, while others, particularly the more southerly species, come together in colonies for mating season, then disperse through the winter to feed. Penguins take 3 to 8 years to reach sexual maturity, at which point they return to the colony of their birth to find a mate and rear chicks. In the wild, penguins live about 20 years unless they succumb to leopard seals, orcas or sea lions. On land, penguins don’t move very fast and are vulnerable to dogs, foxes, rats and ferrets.  Skuas and gulls, types of coastal seabirds, prey on eggs and young penguin chicks.

Fun Facts

• Adelie penguins were named for the wife of the French explorer who identified them
• The name Gentoo penguin comes from a racial insult in Portuguese
• Crested penguins lay two eggs per breeding season, but raise only one chick. Although the first egg is smaller, both eggs are capable of producing chicks that are nearly the same size at fledging.
• In the early days of Antarctic exploration, penguins were a source of food and fuel. Their blubber was used in lamps. Penguin meat was said to taste like fishy duck.
• The Antarctic Treaty, signed in 1959, makes it illegal to harm or bother a penguin.

Check back next Wednesday for how humans and penguins get along in the wild, on beaches and in the suburbs.

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Posted under Living, Nature and Environment.