24.10.2019
The big penguin is an important bird with luxurious eyebrows. Encyclopedia of penguins: from small to emperor Crested penguin
This species belongs to the penguin family and is included in the genus Crested penguins. The crested penguin lives in the very north of the subantarctic zone. These birds live on the Falkland Islands, on the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, on the southern coast South America, in the Auckland Islands, Antipodes Islands. Nesting sites are rocky areas near bodies of water. fresh water and other natural water sources. This species is divided into 2 subspecies.
Description
Body length is 48-62 cm. Weight varies from 2 to 3.4 kg. The largest specimens reach a mass of 4.5 kg. The plumage is waterproof. The feathers reach 2.5-2.9 cm in length. The back of representatives of the species is bluish-black, the chest and belly are white with a slight yellowish tint. The head is black.
The beak is short and red-brown in color. The eyes are small and dark red, the paws are pinkish, located behind the body. The wings are narrow and resemble flippers in appearance. A notable feature of these birds is the peculiar long feathers on their heads. They stretch from the beak and end behind the eyes with tassels. Their color is yellow, sometimes yellow-white.
Reproduction and lifespan
This species nests in large colonies, which can contain up to 100 thousand nests. Monogamous couples. The breeding season is between September and November. There are 2 eggs of different sizes in the clutch. As a rule, the chicken that hatches from the larger egg survives.
The incubation period lasts about 33 days. The male and female take turns incubating the eggs. Crested penguins have a patch of featherless skin on their lower abdomen. It ensures the transfer of heat from the body to the eggs. After hatching, during the first 25 days, the male remains with the offspring, and the female gets food and feeds herself. After this time, the chickens are united in small groups of “nurseries”. There they remain until they reach adulthood.
After breeding, adult birds accumulate fat reserves and prepare for the annual molt. It takes 25 days. During this time, representatives of the species completely change their plumage. After molting, they leave land and spend the winter months at sea. They return to the shore to begin breeding again. IN wildlife The crested penguin lives 10-12 years.
Behavior and nutrition
A notable feature of the representatives of the species is that, when overcoming obstacles, they do not slide over them with their stomachs and do not rise with the help of their wings, as other penguins do. They try to jump over boulders and cracks. TO sea life they are perfectly adapted. They have streamlined bodies and strong wings, which help them move quickly in the water. The diet consists of krill and other crustaceans. Squid, octopus, and fish are also eaten. When extracting prey, they can dive to a depth of 100 meters.
Conservation status
The number of crested penguins is decreasing from year to year. Over the past 30 years it has fallen by 34%. In the Falkland Islands, the population has declined by 90% over the past 60 years. This is due to the growth of tourism and pollution environment. Commercial squid fishing is also contributing to the decline in the number of these penguins. Currently, this species has a status of concern.
Penguins (Spheniscidae) belong to the family of flightless seabirds, this is the only family in the order Penguinidae. It has 18 species, all of them beautiful and unusual in their own way. For example, the crested penguin of Antarctica is truly a miracle created by nature. After all, nature is the most talented sculptor and artist who breathes life into her creations!
The great crested penguin (Fudyptes sclateri) is a very interesting creature. The name "penguin" comes from the Welsh "pen", which means "head", and from the word "gwyn", translated - "white". Adding these two words, we get “penguin”, for the sake of sweetness the letter “e” was changed to “i”. Although there is another version of the origin of this name. The sailors nicknamed the funny tumblers the word “pinguis”, translated from Latin as “fat”. This nickname is quite consistent with their physique.
Crested penguin: description
These clumsy creatures are relatively small in size. The body length of a penguin is on average 60-65 cm, the weight of birds is about 2.5-3.5 kg. But it should be noted that before molting, fat cats gain much more, sometimes up to 6.5-7 kg. Males can be visually distinguished from females even from a distance by their significantly larger size.
The head, upper throat and cheeks of penguins are black. Two yellowish tufts of feathers, starting from the nostrils, extend through the dark red eyes and run along the top of the head. Thanks to their crests, they are called “crested penguins”; these beauties differ from other species in their ability to move their feather decoration. The top of the body is black, tints blue, the bottom is contrastingly white. The wing fins are bluish-black with a white border along the edges. The beak is thin and rather long, brownish in color, closer to orange.
Where do great crested penguins live in the wild?
Cute crested penguins are found in nature near New Zealand and Australia. They prefer to make their nests in the Antipodes, Auckland and Campbell. During winter months they do not leave the cold waters of Antarctica.
They nest in large colonies with other species of crested penguins. The islands favored by land birds are rocky, with many caves in the rocks suitable for building nests for penguins. It is in such caves that future feathered parents carefully construct places for hatching their offspring.
Reproduction
As previously written, crested penguins breed in large colonies. The males come first to the place where they plan to build a nesting site (a flat area of rocks no higher than 65-70 m above sea level), and the females join them about two weeks later. During the reunion, fights begin between the males, which is how the beginning of the mating season is celebrated annually in the penguin kingdom.
When passions subside, married couples begin building a nest. First, the female, having selected a place, scoops out debris from it with her paws. The male is assigned “male” hard work, he brings material consisting of stones, grass and dirt. From all this, the future father of the family builds a nest.
At the beginning of October, egg laying begins, which lasts 3-4 days. Mother penguin lays two eggs: one small, the other large. During laying, the female does not eat anything. When the eggs are already in the nest, incubation begins for 35 days. In 98 percent of cases, the first egg disappears, and the remaining second one hatches.
After sitting on the eggs for 2-3 days, future mom leaves to look for food, the male remains on duty in the nest, all responsibility falls on him. Within 3-4 weeks caring father He doesn’t eat anything, he can’t leave the nest, otherwise the eggs will freeze. So the poor guy has to fast, waiting for the female to return. During this time, the handsome crested man loses a lot of weight; if his wife does not return on time, he may die of hunger.
After this period, if the female’s trip ends successfully, she returns to her husband and the hatched chick (very rarely there are two chicks). The male leaves the family and goes looking for food to gain back the lost weight. The crested mother penguin feeds her babies by regurgitating food, warms them and takes care of them. In February, the full-fledged, grown-up babies leave the shelter in which they were born.
Shedding
A very interesting moment in the life of penguins is molting; this phenomenon is very protracted, and they prepare for it already in February. After the chicks leave the nest, the adult birds part and go to the sea to fatten up before molting for a whole month. After this period, families get together again, this leads to mating games. At this time, the real molt begins, which lasts 28 days. It is with penguins that during molting they are inseparable and spend all the time near the nest. In mid-April, feather renewal is completed, and crested penguins go back to sea.
How do they talk?
Penguins are birds, although they are land birds. These fatties can sing, especially during the period of courtship with a female, if, of course, these mating “serenades” can be called songs. The penguin's voice is more like a cry. Their mating games are accompanied by low sounds that are repeated evenly. Black and white singers “sing” in this way only during the day; at night, their screams can never be heard.
How do they fight?
Male penguins, like all males, sometimes like to get into fights. Most often this happens because of females or when it is necessary to protect the nest from uninvited guests. Aggressive rivals stretch their head vertically with the crest raised militantly and swing it from side to side. Before the start of the fight, the males begin to “trumpet”, while bowing and twitching their shoulders.
During a fight, penguins tilt their heads with a grunt, hitting each other with their beaks and wing fins. Sometimes even bites are used if the fighters get too carried away in the battle.
A very crested penguin, the photo confirms this, because not all nature lovers can afford to see these creatures in natural environment a habitat. There is scientific evidence that over the past 45 years, the number of penguins has decreased by almost half. This species is listed in the Red Book!
(Buller, )
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DescriptionThis is an average penguin, body length 63-65 cm, weight about 4-5 kg. Females are significantly smaller in size than males. The chicks are grayish-brown on top and white below. The penguin's plumage on the back, wings and head is black, the chin, throat and cheeks are white. Two pale yellow tufts of feathers extend from the nostrils through the dark red eyes along the top of the head. Grown-up chicks are somewhat different from adults, the main difference is the yellow cross on the head smaller in size than in adults. What distinguishes it from other crested penguins is its ability to move its feathered feathers. SpreadingIt lives near Australia and New Zealand, breeding on the Antipodes, Bounty, Campbell and Auckland islands. The current population numbers about 200,000 pairs and is considered stable. LifestyleReproductionThese penguins are a social species. They have interesting courtship rituals that are accompanied by low, repetitive sounds called “songs.” The penguin's cry is repeated at a uniform pace and consists of the same set of sounds. The cry of a penguin can only be heard in daytime. Chicks also call their parents with cries, but their “song” is much shorter and not so complex, and it is sung at higher notes. The great crested penguin breeds in large colonies. Males usually return to nesting sites two weeks earlier than females. The beginning of the mating season is marked by extraordinary activity, including fights. The nesting site is located on a flat area of rocks no higher than 70 m above sea level. The female builds the nest herself, using her paws to scoop out debris from underneath it. The male lines the nest with stones, mud and grass. Eggs are laid from the beginning of October, the clutch lasts three to five days, during which time the female does not eat anything. There are two eggs in the clutch, the second egg is larger in size than the first. The eggs are light blue or greenish in color, but later they turn brown. From the moment the second egg is laid, incubation begins, which lasts 35 days. The first egg usually does not survive (98% of the time) so penguins incubate only one egg. During the winter months, the penguin does not leave the cool waters of the Subantarctic, but where exactly it spends all this time has not been established. It usually nests in colonies with another species of crested penguin. The rocky islands are replete with many caves suitable for nesting. There is little vegetation on them, usually low grass and shrubs. They take turns incubating: two to three days after the eggs are laid, the female leaves the nest and the male remains on guard. This lasts three to four weeks, during which time the penguin fasts. Then the chicks hatch. The female returns to the chicks during the day to feed them, regurgitating food. In February, the chicks already have plumage and they leave the islands that gave them birth. ThreatsThe great crested penguin population is considered threatened by the IUCN. Scientists have found that over the past forty-five years the population has decreased by almost half. This is due to the custom of nesting only on certain islands. The species is listed in the Red Book under the category “Endangered Species”. Write a review about the article "Great Crested Penguin"NotesLinks |
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Excerpt characterizing the Great Crested Penguin
“But this is wrong, dad!..” I was indignant.– Take a closer look at your school friends - how often do they say things that are not written? – I was embarrassed... he was, again, as always, right. “This is because their parents teach them to be just good and obedient students and get good grades.” But they don’t teach them to think... Perhaps because they didn’t think very much themselves... Or maybe also because fear has already taken root in them too deeply... So move your brains, my Svetlenka, to find for yourself, what is more important to you is your grades, or your own thinking.
– Is it really possible to be afraid to think, dad?.. After all, no one hears our thoughts?.. What then is there to be afraid of?
– They won’t hear if they hear... But every mature thought shapes your consciousness, Svetlenka. And when your thoughts change, then you change with them... And if your thoughts are correct, then someone may very, very not like them. Not all people like to think, you see. Many people prefer to put this on the shoulders of others like you, while they themselves remain only “fulfillers” of other people’s desires for the rest of their lives. And happiness for them if the same “thinkers” do not fight in the struggle for power, because then it is not real human values that come into play, but lies, bragging, violence, and even crime, if they want to get rid of those who think with them “ out of place”... Therefore, thinking can be very dangerous, my Light One. And it all depends only on whether you will be afraid of this or prefer your human honor to fear...
I climbed onto my dad’s sofa and curled up next to him, imitating the (very dissatisfied) Grishka. Next to my dad, I always felt very protected and peaceful. It seemed that nothing bad could get to us, just as nothing bad could happen to me when I was next to him. Which, of course, could not be said about the disheveled Grishka, since he also adored the hours spent with dad and could not stand it when anyone intruded on these hours... He hissed at me very unfriendly and with all his appearance showed that it was better I wish I could get out of here as quickly as possible... I laughed and decided to leave him to calmly enjoy such a dear pleasure for him, and I went to get some exercise - play snowballs in the yard with the neighbor kids.
I counted the days and hours left until my tenth birthday, feeling almost “all grown up”, but, to my great shame, I was not able to forget for a minute my “birthday surprise”, which, of course, was nothing didn’t add anything positive to my same “adulthood”...
I, like all the children in the world, adored gifts... And now all day long I wondered what it could be, what, in my grandmother’s opinion, with such confidence I should have “liked very much”?..
But the wait wasn’t that long, and very soon it was completely confirmed that it was very worth doing...
Finally, my “birthday” morning was cold, sparkling and sunny, as befits a real holiday. The air “burst” from the cold with colored stars and literally “ringed”, forcing pedestrians to move faster than usual... All of us, going out into the yard, took our breath away, and steam literally billowed from “everything living” around, funny making everyone look like multi-colored locomotives rushing in different directions...
After breakfast, I simply could not sit still and followed my mother, waiting to finally see my long-awaited “surprise”. To my greatest surprise, my mother went with me to the neighbor’s house and knocked on the door... Despite the fact that our neighbor was a very pleasant person, what she could have to do with my birthday remained a mystery to me...
