In what part of the world are penguins not found? Where do penguins and polar bears live? Why do penguins stand up straight and swim but not fly?

The image of a penguin amusingly waddling while walking has long become one of the most beloved by cartoon authors. Hockey teams are named after penguins, they inspire creators computer games And operating systems. These flightless birds also took their place in heraldry, decorating the coats of arms of several southern islands and overseas territories. So where are penguins found, and how many varieties are there?

Natural habitat of penguins

Penguins belong to a separate family, which is called penguins. In total there are 18 species of them on the planet. And everyone lives in the Southern Hemisphere, on the opposite side from us globe. Penguins are perfectly adapted to life in Antarctica, among the ice and snow. Thick subcutaneous fat and dense plumage help them survive in the most severe frosts. However, it is wrong to think that penguins are found only on the icy continent. In fact, they are found in Africa and even on the equator.

There are several main penguin habitats:

• Antarctic.
• Subantarctic belt.
• Coast of South Africa.
• The waters of New Zealand and southern Australia.
• Coast of South America (from Argentina to Peru).
• Galapagos Islands.

Penguins of Antarctica

Most penguins live in Antarctica and on neighboring islands. This is where the largest of them, emperor penguins, are found. These birds reach a height of 1 m 30 cm and a weight of 50 kg. Their closest relatives are slightly smaller - king penguins.

Emperor penguins nest near the coast. Having laid an egg, the female goes to the sea. At this time, the father carries the egg, holding it on his paws. Penguins move slowly and clumsily on land, at a speed of only 1–2 km per hour. If there is a slight slope, they can lie on their stomachs on the snow and ride down, like on a sled. At the same time, they help themselves with wings, more like the flippers of seals.

The main food of penguins is small sea ​​fish, crustaceans and molluscs. When hunting, they are able to spend long hours and even days in the water. Some species may not come onto land for weeks, during which time they swim more than a thousand kilometers between remote islands. The fastest swimmer is the subantarctic or gentoo penguin, accelerating up to 36 km/h.

In Antarctica, penguins do not have many enemies, but they are quite dangerous. They are hunted by sharks and killer whales, and their eggs and chicks are threatened by skuas and large gulls. And the most terrible enemy is the leopard seal. It is penguins that are the most favorite delicacy of this large seal. It attacks its victims in the water, and even jumping onto the shore. True, on land he is as clumsy as the penguins themselves. But under water, this magnificent swimmer practically never misses. There are many varieties of penguins in Antarctica and the Antarctic. We list only the most famous types:

• Imperial.
• Papuan.
• Antarctic.
• Royal.
• Adelie Penguins.

How did penguins end up in Antarctica?

Initially, penguins lived in the area temperate climate. They appeared on the planet a very long time ago - about 70 million years ago. Dinosaurs still walked the earth at that time, and the climate was noticeably warmer than today. But the most important thing is that the map of our planet looked completely different. Antarctica was then much closer to the equator. Then she started moving south. Scientists call this process “continental drift.”

As a result of drift southern mainland gradually I ended up in my current place. Over millions of years, the surface of Antarctica was covered with a thick layer of ice several kilometers thick. And most species of fauna became extinct. Very few adapted, including penguins.

Penguin Species

Scientists group all penguins living on the planet into 6 different genera. Each genus consists of one or more closely related species. Let us list the genera of penguins known today:

• imperial;
• crested;
• small;
• magnificent;
• Antarctic;
• spectacles.

As you can see, the names of some genera coincide with the names of individual species. For example, in the genus emperor penguins Royal ones are also included. Antarctic penguins include Gentoo and Adélie penguins.

Penguins in Africa, New Zealand and the Equator

Although we are accustomed to considering penguins as typical inhabitants of icy shores, Europeans first met them on the hottest continent - Africa. The first to describe penguins were the Portuguese from Vasco da Gama's expedition, which opened a direct route to India. Sailors met spectacled penguins on the African coast. Today, these rare birds are in danger of extinction; they are listed in the Red Book.

And the most heat-loving penguins live almost on the equator - on Galapagos Islands. That's what they're called - Galapagos penguins. The Galapagos Archipelago is located near South America. Along the coast of this continent there are several other species of penguins: Humboldt, Magellan, Crested, etc.

Several more species of penguins have become popular New Zealand and the southern coast of Australia with the islands located in this water area.

These birds are quite trusting of humans, because they have not had two-legged enemies in Antarctica for thousands of years. Yes Yes. It's about O penguins. Those very only birds that swim but do not fly.

NUTRITIONAL AND EDUCATED

The first Europeans to see them were the famous Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama and his sailors in 1499. Not in Antarctica: the discovery of this continent was still far away, but off the coast of South Africa - spectacled penguins and still live there. True, one of the members of the great Portuguese’s team described them in his diary rather offensively: “We saw birds, they were big, like geese, and their cry resembled the cry of donkeys.”

Emperor penguins are the largest

The following written evidence was left in 1520 by Antonio Pigafetta, who accompanied Ferdinand Magellan on his round the world expedition. He also compared penguins, this time seen off the coast of South America, with poultry: “The strange geese were upright and could not fly.”

By the way, it was Pigafetta who pointed out that the bizarre birds are quite well-fed, and this predetermined their name: in Latin “fat” is pinguis (penguins), hence the penguins.

In general, there are 18 different species of birds in the order of penguins, but we will focus on only two - those that live in Antarctica. This emperor penguins And Adelie penguins.

The rest of their relatives settled along the coasts of South Africa and South America, as well as New Zealand and Australia. They even live near the equator in the Galapagos Islands. But traditionally, penguins are “registered” in Antarctica, although there are only two species there.

Adelie Penguins

Adelie penguin colony

In addition to being plump, a characteristic feature of emperor penguins is their slowness. It’s not surprising: their height reaches 120 centimeters and their weight is 45 kilograms. On land, penguins move very clumsily, maintaining balance with the help of short flipper wings.

By the way, it is they, and not the paws, that serve as the main engine when necessary. When it is necessary to speed up, the birds lie down on their fluffy, slippery belly and quickly, quickly push off from the snow or from the ground. Such a black and white sleigh!

But in the water, penguins are very agile - they are excellent swimmers and divers. On the surface, waves cut through at a speed of 35 kilometers per hour, and in the afterburner, trying to catch fish as quickly as possible, they squeeze out all 50! In addition, penguins can dive to a depth of 20 meters and stay under water for 10 minutes.

Adelie penguins dive underwater

Such a long stay in the sea element is not only for the sake of food - it is a kind of heating room. With the usual frost in Antarctica down to minus 50-60 degrees and strong storm winds, water for them is like a hot shower for a person: after all, it cannot be colder than zero degrees.

WELCOME TO THE MOTION

Why do penguins come to land? Polar explorers have asked this question more than once when encountering birds far from the seashore. The first long walk was recorded by British zoologist Edward Wilson in 1911: he saw traces of penguins on the Ross Ice Shelf 110 kilometers from the coast.

The record distance was documented by American polar explorers on the eve of 1958: they discovered traces of a penguin 400 kilometers from the sea! Such a journey at a walking speed of 5-10 kilometers per hour took the bird several weeks.

Of course, such long routes are rare. But the long walks of emperor penguins over short distances along the coast and inland are commonplace. They perform exercise either individually or in pairs.

Penguins are very curious

At the same time, they are very similar to people who discuss some issues while walking - it looks quite funny. By the way, obstacles on the planned route are not a hindrance for the penguins: despite their external clumsiness, they have more than once amazed polar explorers with their ability to deftly climb rocks or overcome slippery ice hummocks.

Smart girls, what can you say? But sometimes they act illogically: warm summer spend at sea, and the south polar winter with terrible frosts on the shore. Moreover, it is during this seemingly most inappropriate period that people get married and have offspring.

FAMILY AFFAIRS

Emperor penguins are monogamous: having found a mate, they do not look at anyone else. They are looking for a bride when in April coastal ice from 5 to 10 thousand birds gather. A young penguin, walking along the shore, every now and then emits a loud cry, to which the female responds. Sometimes such a search takes the groom several hours, but, as a rule, he finds a match. If the penguin has previously had a girlfriend, then it calls out and finds only her.

Caring for offspring is a separate, very instructive topic. When, a month after the wedding, the female emperor penguin lays one egg (weighing 500 grams and 12 centimeters long!), the spouses never lower it onto the ice - they always hold it with wings-flippers (after all, families do not acquire nests).

Moreover, the first two are the most severe winter months The egg is incubated, or rather, pressed to its chest by a penguin. All this time he does not eat - he lives off the subcutaneous fat accumulated over the summer and loses up to half his weight.

Then it is replaced by a female, who has gained fat in two months. True, she doesn’t have to tinker with the egg for very long: a chick is born, which the mother feeds for about a month. Afterwards, a rested father comes, taking care of the baby for the rest of the time until he grows up.

The second Antarctic species - Adélie penguins (they are smaller: up to 80 centimeters) - has a different approach. They look for the bride not by shouting, but by presenting the chosen one with a pebble. If she does not consent, she turns away, and the unlucky groom looks for another bride.

Having created a family, penguins build a nest - that same pebble becomes the first building material. The couple ends up with not one, but two eggs. They are hatched on a rotation basis - for two weeks each.

The chicks are also fed together for about a month, and then the penguin chicks are sent to a kind of nursery: all the babies born in the colony are collected in a separate area. So they stay together, and their parents bring them food. The nursery is opened when the teenage penguins are able to get their own food.

Adélie penguins are more numerous than emperor penguins. They are curious and quite friendly towards people. Sometime during football match between the polar explorers at the Mirny station, one penguin even ran out onto the field and began to run after the ball - it was difficult to calm the unusual football player. His brother distinguished himself differently: he set up a rookery on the roof of a tractor and never wanted to leave...

REQUIEM FOR THE LOON

A little about the sad. Some people ask: why is it like this in Antarctica? a large number of penguins, and in a similar weather conditions Is there nothing like this in the Arctic? In fact, has nature really given “floating but flightless” only to the Southern Hemisphere?

In due time quite large bird with fin-like wings, she also clumsily wandered along the shore and deftly swam in the waters of the Arctic. Even the color matched that of a penguin - black and white, except that the beak extended forward was more powerful. This bird is great auk.

Back in the 17th century, judging by the documentary records of seafarers, in the northern climatic zone it was one of the most common - millions of individuals. But by the middle of the 19th century, not a single bird remained: the last one was seen near the Great Bank of Newfoundland in 1852...

It’s not hard to guess whose job it is: delicious meat and the softest fluff in the world have made the great auk a desirable prey for hunters. But if ancient man was limited to the bare minimum number of birds, the subsequent commercial scale of the Europeans who arrived in the Far North put an end to the biography of the northern analogues of penguins.

The latter were lucky: Antarctica was discovered by more civilized people who drew the right conclusions from the sad fate of the great auk. We are gradually learning to protect nature. However, three species that live away from the sixth continent (crested, magnificent and Galapagos penguins) beginning of XXI centuries are considered critically endangered, and seven more species are considered endangered.

Well, in memory of the great auk - the first of the European and American birds completely destroyed by humans - the journal of the American Society of Ornithologists is named The Auk - “Auk”.

Oleg NIKOLAEV

Most people confuse penguins with polar bears. No, if you show them a picture, then, of course, they will distinguish “bears in white” from “birds in black tailcoats,” but when you tell them that you went to Antarctica, the majority will say: “Say hello to the polar bears,” and if you go to North Pole, then someone will definitely say hi to the penguins.

You can remember who lives where in the following way: imagine a school globe. Polar bears crowd on top of it, rubbing against the earth’s axis and trying not to fall off the globe onto the table, and below, under the globe, it’s like the bats Little penguins are running upside down.

While polar bears do not descend the globe below the Arctic Circle, tenacious penguins manage to climb all the way up to the equator. You heard right. Penguins even live on the Galapagos Islands, several tens of kilometers from the equator, and have never seen snow in their lives. The temperature there ranges from +18 to +28 - warmer than in Moscow.

In general, it is a big misconception to think that penguins live exclusively in the snow, in Antarctica. There are a lot of penguins living in South Africa, South America and even Australia and New Zealand. They live in burrows that they dig in the sand.

There is a beach in Cape Town that penguins have chosen for themselves and live there in a whole colony. You can buy a ticket and swim with the penguins. The water here is about +10 degrees, so it’s better to take a wetsuit, otherwise your legs will cramp when you go into such water barefoot.

The announcement at the entrance to the parking lot is very touching: “Please, before leaving, look under the car and make sure there are no penguins under it!”

P.S. I'm drawing up a travel schedule for the rest of the year. I will be on a big expedition all summer and won’t be able to take anyone there, but then I will have several interesting trips and I will be glad to everyone who wants to join me. This will include a trip to Antarctica!

I will publish a detailed schedule of my trips on my next Instagram.

They love the cold and live in the south. They have wings, but they cannot fly. Sailors called them “strange geese.” Have you already guessed who we are talking about?

Penguins are birds that spend half their lives in water. They live in the Southern Hemisphere. Vasco da Gama and his sailors said that they were as big as geese. Travelers saw penguins in South Africa in 1499. Antonio Pigafetta also called them “strange geese.” He accompanied Magellan on an expedition around the world, and in 1520, sailors saw black and white birds off the coast of South America.

We tell you more interesting facts about representatives of the penguin family. The places where they live and their differences from each other. We also share travel options to where most of these people live. amazing birds. In Antarctica you can meet penguins in person.

Why are penguins called that?

There are three versions of how the word "penguin" came about.

The first says that the word combines the Welsh pen (head) and gwyn (white). This is the name of the great auk. This is an extinct species that lived off the eastern coast of Canada. When explorers in the Southern Hemisphere encountered black birds with a white belly similar to the great auk, they called them penguins.

According to the second assumption, penguins got their name from English word pinwing. Translated, this means “wing-hairpin”.

The third version is perhaps the most offensive. According to this version, the birds began to be called so from the Latin adjective pinguis, which means “fat.”

Why do penguins stand up straight and swim but not fly?

Among all the birds, the penguin is the only one that can swim. But he can't fly. And among the birds, only penguins walk standing.

Webbed feet, which are located at the very end of the body, are the reason why penguins stand upright. Also thanks to them, penguins move quickly underwater. During evolution, their wings turned into flippers, and help the birds to be strong and agile swimmers. In water, they rotate like a screw in the shoulder joint. The record holders in swimming among these birds are gentoo penguins. They develop speed at cold water about thirty kilometers per hour.

Interesting fact: A short tail helps penguins maintain balance. The bird can lean on it as a stand. And yet, on land, penguins are very clumsy. If he throws his head back sharply, he may fall on his back. The bird can no longer rise on its own. Therefore, at the polar stations there appeared interesting profession- penguin lifter. Such workers help seabirds roll over and stand up.

How long do penguins live?

In nature, the lifespan of these birds is 15-25 years. In captivity, with good maintenance, the age can reach 30 years.

Do penguins have enemies?

Penguins suffer from seagulls that peck at their eggs. And skuas often kidnap chicks. Killer whales and seals hunting penguins in the sea.

Are penguins faithful to their partners?

Penguins live in flocks in the water and form colonies on land. All representatives of the order Penguinidae are monogamous. They create permanent pairs.

IN mating season males make loud sounds similar to the sound of a trumpet. In females, those who are plumper have an advantage. They have enough fat to incubate the eggs and survive for several weeks. Parents replace each other during their absences to forage for food.

Types of penguins

There are 19 species of penguins in total. Let's talk about some of them.

Magellanic penguin

Breeds on the Patagonian coast, Falkland Islands and Juan Fernandez Islands. Body length - 70-80 cm. Weight - 5-6 kg. They got their name thanks to the famous traveler who first discovered seabirds near the island of Tierra del Fuego.

Galapagos penguin

It is unique in that it does not live in the Antarctic and subantarctic regions, but on the Galapagos Islands. They are located very close to the equator. The air temperature here is from +18 to +28°C. Body length - 50-60 cm. Weight - 2.5 kg. This species is listed in the International Red Book.

Emperor penguin

The largest of all penguins. The male's body length reaches 130 cm and weight 40 kg. Found on the coast of Antarctica. In the neck area, emperor penguins have a spot of orange or bright yellow color - making it even more difficult to confuse them with another species.

King Penguin

Very similar to the emperor penguin, but smaller in size. Body length - 90-100 cm, weight - 9-18 kg. They have gray back, and on the sides of the black head and on the chest there are large orange spots. King penguins nest on islands near Tierra del Fuego, including South Georgia Island.

Adelie Penguin

They live in Antarctica and the South Shetland Islands. Scientists first discovered these birds in Adelie Land. This is one of the Antarctic regions. Their habitat is floating ice Antarctica, but to lay eggs they move to the mainland, traveling up to hundreds of kilometers. The length of the penguin is 65-75 cm, weight is about 6 kg.

Gentoo penguin or Gentoo penguin

The largest after the imperial and king penguin. The length of the bird is 70-90 cm, weight is 7.5-9 kg. The penguin has a black back, white belly and bright orange-red beak and legs. The habitat is limited to the territories of Antarctica and the islands of the Subantarctic zone.

Where to see penguins

Penguins are found in southern Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, and are found in South America and the Galapagos Islands. And yet most penguins live in Antarctica.

Birds are not at all afraid of people, because they are not accustomed to danger on land. If you want to pet a penguin, look at which trips to Antarctica you can do this on.

In one trip, see several places where penguins live? There are many islands along the route where they live different types these birds. Adélie penguins nest on the Brown Cliff of the Tabarin Peninsula. They set up entire colonies on Paulet Island. There are so many birds that you can hardly see the ground. Gentoo penguins walk around the scientific station on Godier Island, not at all shy to pose for tourists' cameras. Both species, Adélie and Gentoo, also live on Petermann Island.

The cruise program includes not only meeting penguins, but also active recreation. Overnight in tents right on the ice of Antarctica, kayaking among glaciers, photography training and snowshoeing. The most resilient travelers can even climb the Antarctic mountains.

Meet New Year not just in the south, but in the very south of the Earth. Among the icebergs that crash into the sea. Antarctica is perhaps the most unusual place for the holiday.

You will celebrate the beginning of the decade with the penguins. They are not at all wary of people, and will most likely look in your bag or shoe when you are on Cuverville Island. You will also see the Lemaire Strait. So beautiful that it was nicknamed “Kodak Gap”. There is so much footage being done here. Polar explorers say that travelers used to spend up to 600 km of photographic film a year in this place. You will visit Russian scientists at the Bellingshausen polar station on King George Island. If you're brave enough, go polar swimming off the volcanic Deception Island.

Reach the South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula, celebrate the New Year among the glaciers, admire the Gentoo and Adelie penguins... and all this together with Dmitry Krylov. The famous traveler, host of the popular program “Bad Notes” will leave at the beginning of 2019. Excellent company for an expedition to the southern hemisphere.

Penguins of Gentoo, Adelie...we've dealt with them. Can you see other types? In Antarctica you will meet emperor penguins - the most major representatives order of penguinformes. Explore Seymour Island. Here, a Swedish Antarctic expedition discovered the bones of a fossil of a two-meter penguin.

Go in search of emperor penguins in a comfortable expedition ship ice class, and you will also travel by helicopter. You will reach those places among the icebergs that are inaccessible to other transport.

Did you know that penguins have lived since the time of dinosaurs? And if the latter were unlucky and scientists are reconstructing their appearance from their bones, then the ancestors of penguins, who appeared 70 million years ago, still delight us with their unusual habits.

Most penguins live in Antarctica, which is located in the Southern Hemisphere of the Earth. They love the cold very much and can withstand temperatures down to -110 degrees. They have a thick layer of subcutaneous fat and three layers of feathers. A penguin's body fat makes up half its weight. By the way, that's why they were called that. The Spanish word “penguin” means “fat, fat.” In a snowstorm, a fat “coat” is very necessary. In a snowstorm, when wind gusts reach a speed of 30 meters per second, not a single feather on a penguin flutters, they all lie smoothly, covering the bird with a dense shell

Penguins - birds, although they can’t fly at all. But they are excellent swimmers and divers. Since their wings are not adapted for flight, they are used as fins. And thanks to their torpedo-like body, penguins reach speeds underwater of up to 40 kilometers per hour. These birds spend half their lives in the water, swimming or foraging for food - fish, plankton and mollusks. They can dive to depths of up to five hundred meters while holding their breath for 30 minutes.

Penguins move on their hind legs in short steps, holding their bodies upright. Their speed on land is a maximum of 2 km/h, but they can travel up to 100 km without stopping. And if you need to move faster, they lie on their bellies and slide through the snow like on a sleigh, pushing off with their wings and legs.

Penguins live in large colonies consisting of many families. These birds recognize their relatives by smell. And for communication they use sign language. They shake their heads or flap their wings to communicate something.

Penguins - good parents . The penguin lays one or two eggs, the appearance of which is greeted by future parents with joyful cries. They bow and thank each other. The father penguin then takes the egg and hides it in a fat fold on its abdomen. He'll keep it on paws - flippers 2 months, standing on bitter cold And strong wind, hardly moving. At this time, the penguin's mother goes far to the sea to hunt for food. Fathers They usually crowd together so that they themselves do not freeze. The chicks hatch covered with soft down, but after three weeks the parents leave the chicks and only occasionally return to feed them. From this time on, the chicks begin to unite in close groups - kindergartens. And after a year, when the babies have waterproof feathers, they become completely independent.