Breeding penguins spend less time offshore with trips averaging 22.4 hours with a maximum of 35.3 hours. Non-breeding penguins spend an average of 60.0 hours in the water before returning to land with the maximum trip lasting 163.3 hours. The amount of time the spend in water is associated with breeding status. Humboldt penguins spend a majority of their time in coastal waters. This area is located adjacent to the Humboldt Current, a large oceanic upwelling characterized by cold, nutrient rich waters. Their range extends from Isla Foca in the north to Punihuil Islands to the south. They instead hop from rock to rock to move across land quickly.Humboldt penguins are endemic to the subtropical Pacific coasts of Chile and Peru. Rockhoppers do not glide on their bellies like other penguins. Penguins can swim up to 15 mph (24.14 kph) according to the World Wildlife Fund. Their heavier bones counteract the birds' natural buoyancy, making them very quick swimmers.

It is the perfect shape for gliding through the water as they swim.

The shape of all penguins makes them aerodynamic. The chinstrap penguin has a stripe of black that runs from one side of its head to the other. Most of the other species of penguins are listed as vulnerable or threatened.

Spheniscus mendiculus (Galapagos penguin)Īccording to the Red List of Threatened Species from the International Union for Conservation of Nature, four penguin species are endangered: northern rockhopper, erect-crested, yellow-eyed, jackass and Galapagos penguins.

Spheniscus magellanicus (Magellanic penguin).

Spheniscus humboldti (Humboldt penguin).

Spheniscus demersus (jackass penguin, also called African penguin).

Pygoscelis antarcticus (chinstrap penguin).

Megadyptes antipodes (yellow-eyed penguin).

Eudyptula minor (little penguin, also called little blue penguin).

Eudyptes sclateri (erect-crested penguin).

Eudyptes pachyrhynchus (Fiordland penguin).

Eudyptes moseleyi (northern rockhopper penguin).

Eudyptes filholi (eastern rockhopper penguin considered by some to be a subspecies of southern rockhopper).

Eudyptes chrysolophus (macaroni penguin).

Eudyptes chrysocome (southern rockhopper penguin).

Kingdom: Animalia Subkingdom: Bilateria Infrakingdom: Deuterostomia Phylum: Chordata Subphylum: Vertebrata Infraphylum: Gnathostomata Superclass: Tetrapoda Class: Aves Order: Sphenisciformes Family: Spheniscidae Genera: Aptenodytes, Eudyptes, Eudyptula, Megadyptes, Pygoscelis and Spheniscus Species: The taxonomy of penguins, according to ITIS, is: (Image credit: Michelle LaRue) Classification/taxonomy

Penguin parents can identify their offspring by unique calls that the chick will make.Įmperor penguins may migrate to find new nesting grounds. After the chicks emerge, the parents will take turns feeding their offspring with regurgitated food. When penguin chicks are ready to hatch, they use their beaks to break through the shell of their eggs. The female of this species will place the egg on the male's feet to keep warm in his fat folds while she goes out and hunts for several weeks. The one exception is the emperor penguin. The two parents will take turns holding the eggs between their legs for warmth in a nest. All other species of penguins lay two eggs. The male usually starts the mating ritual and will pick out a nice nesting site before he approaches a female.Īfter mating, the female emperor or king penguin will lay a single egg. Most species breed during the spring and summer. For example, research has found that chinstrap penguins re-paired with the same partner 82 percent of the time and gentoo penguins re-paired 90 percent of the time.Īt around three to eight years old, a penguin is mature enough to mate. In many cases, the male and female will continue to mate with each other for most of their lives. This means that male and female pairs will mate exclusively with each other for the duration of mating season. During breeding season, penguins come ashore to form huge colonies called rookeries, according to Sea World. Mating & baby penguinsĪ group of penguins is called a colony, according to the U.S. It will dive as deep as 120 meters (393.70 feet) up to 200 times a day looking for fish, according to the Yellow-Eyed Penguin Trust. The yellow-eyed penguin is very tenacious when foraging for food. For example, the breeding population of Adélie penguins (about 2,370,000 pairs) can consume up to 1.5 million metric tons (1.5 billion kg) of krill, 115,000 metric tons (115 million kg) of fish and 3,500 metric tons (3.5 million kg) of squid each year, according to Sea World. Some species of penguin can make a large dent in an area's food supply. Their diet includes krill (tiny crustaceans), squid and fish. Penguins are carnivores they eat only meat.

Penguin natural predators