How fast penguins run

Unlike some birds that shed a few feathers at a time, penguins lose all their feathers at once during a process called catastrophic molt.

About two-thirds of penguin species are listed as threatened on the IUCN Red List, making them one of the most endangered seabirds. Loss of habitat, disease, and infectious diseases spread by tourists loom as threats. Commercial fishing in the Southern Ocean is also a significant concern, as it has reduced fish supply by about half in the Antarctic Peninsula. This forces many penguins to compete for food, and puts them in danger of getting accidentally captured by fishing nets. Among the biggest threats to penguin populations is climate change.

Warming in the polar regions has melted sea ice, which penguins depend on to find food and build nests. Rapidly changing conditions mean Antarctica could lose most of its penguins to climate change by the end of the century.

To survive, they may have to relocate to new habitats. All rights reserved. A pair of gentoo penguins Pygoscelis papua. Common Name: Penguins. Scientific Name: Spheniscidae. Diet: Carnivore. Erect-crested Eudyptes sclateri - The erect-crested penguins are best identified by their upright and fanned yellow plumes. Male competition for breeding sites in September is fierce and penguins commonly resort to biting and beating each other with flippers.

The diet of erect-crested penguins is not well known, though it is suspected they eat krill, small fish, and squid like other crested penguins. They stand at 26 inches 67 cm , weigh up to 14 pounds 6. Humboldt Spheniscus humboldti - Native to the hot climate of the Atacama Desert on the coast of South America, Humboldt penguins have large, bare skin patches around their eyes, an adaptation to help keep them cool.

Humboldt penguins dig nests in sand or penguin poop guano where they incubate the eggs for 40 to 42 days. Breeding season is either March to April or September to October depending on the location of the colony. Humboldt penguins rely on the nutrient rich Humboldt Current to support the anchovy and sardine populations they prey upon. The Humboldt is one of the most popular zoo penguins due to its ability to withstand warmer climates.

They stand at an average height of Magellanic Spheniscus magellanicus - The Magellanic penguin lives along the southern coast of South America from Argentina on the Atlantic side to Chile in the Pacific.

Their breast plumage consists of two black stripes that differentiate them from the geographically nearby Humboldt penguin. Magellanic penguins nest in ground dugouts, when possible, or under brush. Both parents share sitting on the egg for the 39 to 42 day incubation period. During the winter months, between May and August, Magellanic penguins migrate along the coast of Chile, and as far north as Brazil on the East Coast, chasing anchovies.

Adults stand at 28 inches 70 cm and weigh up to roughly 15 pounds 6. African Spheniscus demersus - The African penguin is sometimes referred to as the jackass penguin for its shrill braying that sounds like a donkey.

They inhabit the southern shores of Africa from Namibia to South Africa and feed on pilchard, sardines, anchovies, and mackerel. Their nesting colonies are large and noisy. Each breeding couple lays two eggs in a shallow dugout in the ground. Eggs are incubated between 38 to 40 days by both parents. They have a lifespan between 10 and 15 years.

At 23 to 25 inches tall Galapagos Spheniscus mendiculus - Galapagos penguins are the most northerly penguins, living along the Galapagos Islands on the equator. These penguins have special adaptations and behaviors that help them deal with the tropical heat. Galapagos penguins actively seek out shade, pant, stand with wings spread, and hunch over on land to shade their feet, an area of heat loss.

Galapagos penguin breeding is completely dependent upon the Cromwell Current and they may breed during any month of the year depending upon seasonal climate conditions. When the Cromwell Current fails to upwell and bring colder, nutrient rich water to the surface, penguins delay breeding presumably because of low food availability.

Once the penguins are able to breed, egg incubation is roughly 40 days. The Galapagos are the smallest of the banded penguins at 21 inches 53 cm and weigh up to 5.

Chinstrap Pygoscelis antarcticus - Chinstrap penguins are distinguishable by their white face and a thin black band that runs across the chin. Unlike many other penguin species, the chinstrap usually rears both chicks to adulthood when environmental conditions are favorable.

Beginning in November, adults incubate the eggs in shallow pebble nests for up to five to six weeks. They prey upon Antarctic krill, Euphasia supurba, almost exclusively but will also eat small fish. At a maximum size of 30 inches 76 and weighing 10 pounds 4. Gentoo Pygoscelis papua - The largest of the brush-tailed penguins, this bird is further distinguished by its red beak. The gentoo nests on both the Antarctic Peninsula and on sub-Antarctic islands. They construct nests with tussock grass and moss when available but will also use pebbles in rockier environments.

Both eggs are incubated for 31 to 39 days. Loyal birds, they not only return to the same nesting site every year but will also form lasting bonds with breeding partners. Adults subsist on mostly Antarctic krill but will also eat other crustaceans, squid, and fish. Gentoo penguins reach sizes up to 32 inches 81 cm and 15 pounds 6. An ice-dependent species, they rely on the ice for foraging, often trapping prey under ice floes sheets of ice that jigsaw the ocean surface and resting on top of them to avoid predators.

Populations are on the decline on the northern Antarctic Peninsula, where air temperatures significantly increased in the latter half of the 20th century due to climate change. Breeding season begins in October, with eggs hatching after 35 days of incubation.

They rely heavily on Antarctic krill but also eat fish, crustaceans, and other krill species. The birds stand at 27 inches 70 cm and weigh up to 12 pounds 6. Emperor Aptenodytes forsteri - Living exclusively within the Antarctic, emperor penguins are truly animals fit for the extreme.

Breeding season begins at the end of March with couples congregating in one of 45 different colonies along the Antarctic sheet ice. After a quick courtship, females lay a single egg and transfer it to a nest between the feet of the father.

Father emperors battle harsh temperature and wind conditions while incubating the egg. They often lose as much as half their body weight during the process. At a maximum size of 51 inches cm and 88 pounds 40 kg they are the largest penguin species. Adult couples can only afford to raise two chicks every three years because of the extensive time needed to rear one chick. Breeding may begin anywhere from November to April so colonies have a mix of chicks of various ages.

King penguins breed on sub-Antarctic islands within the Southern Atlantic. Standing they can reach heights up to 38 inches 95 cm with weights as high as 35 pounds 16 kg. Yellow-Eyed Megadyptes antipodes - Yellow-eyed penguins are the most private of all penguins, preferring to nest out of sight from other penguins. They often forgo parental duties if they are within eyesight of other nesting couples.

For this reason they often nest among the tree trunks of the dwarf rata forests on the islands off of New Zealand where they are native. The breeding season is particularly long, lasting from August to February. Egg incubation alone can take up to two months. They weigh between 5 and 5. Little or Fairy Eudyptula minor — The smallest of the penguins, the little penguin claims the rocky island coasts around New Zealand and Australia as home.

Colonies are usually at the base of sandy dunes or cliffs. They eat mostly small fish, but occasionally will consume krill and small squid. Little penguins live an average of 6. Breeding season begins in August and lasts until December. Chicks take roughly 36 days to hatch and then another 3 to 4 weeks where they depend on their parents for food. Juveniles reach sexual maturity at age three. They weigh in at a mere 2 to 3 pounds. The first penguins evolved roughly 60 million years ago in temperate latitudes around 50 degrees South, close to where New Zealand is now.

An area devoid of land predators, the location lent itself to the survival of flightless birds. While many birds nest in trees or cliffs to protect their chicks from wild mammals, penguins historically have been able to nest on the ground without the threat of large predators.

Without the constraints of flight, namely the weight and wing surface area necessary for lift-off, penguins could claim a new domain—the ocean. Penguins are Southern Hemisphere birds, though many people confuse them with the black and white birds of the north, the puffins. The first bird to go by the name was actually the now extinct great auk which was a black and white flightless bird in the northern Atlantic. The great auk is in no way related to modern penguins, instead claiming membership in the Alcidae family, same as puffins, other auks, and murres.

In the s, fishers and whalers slaughtered the flightless great auks by the thousands to supply food aboard ships, and by the species was extinct. Their memory seemed to stick with seamen, for when explorers traveled to the southern seas and encountered new tuxedoed birds they repurposed the name. Scientists of the early twentieth century believed penguins were a living link between birds and dinosaurs.

This belief spurred the famous Worst Journey in the World , a scientific expedition led by Dr. Edward Wilson in that aimed to retrieve emperor penguin eggs for the purpose of studying the embryos. At the time it was still believed that early developmental stages directly reflected attributes of previous ancestral stages; in the case of penguins, reptilian scales in the embryo could be evidence of dinosaur lineages. This connection has since been disproven, although all birds are indeed now recognized as having evolved from dinosaurs.

The earliest known penguins evolved shortly after the demise of the dinosaurs in the Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction. Roughly 66 million years ago species from the genus Waimanu lived in the waters off of New Zealand. The two species of Waimanu penguins are currently considered the basal ancestors, meaning they are considered the earliest common ancestor of all penguins.

Flightless like modern penguins, Waimanu penguins still maintained anatomical similarities to flying birds and may have had swimming capabilities similar to a loon or cormorant. Their beaks were long and slender and their legs were slightly larger than the modern penguins.

The discovery of these ancient penguins was based on an analysis of four separate specimens from North Canterbury, New Zealand that are some of the best-preserved avian fossils from that era. It was these specimens that supplied evidence for the theory that penguins split from other birds before the end of the Cretaceous epoch. By 55 million years ago penguins were well adapted to life at sea, and from 40 to 25 million years ago they were the dominant predators of squid, fish, and krill.

Not only were there roughly 40 species, more than twice the number today, but they also grew to much larger sizes. Roughly 37 million years ago, the largest of these giant penguins , Palaeeudyptes klekowskii , measured 6 feet 6 inches 2 meters from beak tip to toe and would measure close to the average height of an adult woman at 5 foot 3 inches 1.

Described in by an Argentinian research team, P. Around the same time period—but farther north—the Peruvian giant, Icadyptes salasi , stood at a slightly shorter 5 feet. This giant supported a unique 7 inch beak that is theorized to have been helpful in spearing fish. The discovery of this fossil upended previous conceptions about the equatorial migration of penguins. It was thought that penguins migrated north towards the equator after periods of Earth cooling like that which occurred during the Eocene-Oligocene around 34 million years ago and a later cooling period 15 million years ago.

But the earlier migration of Icadyptes indicates penguins actually migrated during a time of significant warming. By 23 million years ago, during the early Miocene, most of the giant penguins had long died off, all except Anthropodyptes gilli. This giant was still thriving in Australia until 18 million years ago. After the fall of the giant penguins, it is believed that the crested penguins, the ancestors of all modern day penguins, radiated from a common Antarctic ancestor.

Genetic analysis of four penguins and recent discovery of penguin fossils indicate a common ancestor as early as 20 million years ago with individual modern species diverging between 11 and 16 million years ago. The earliest known penguin fossil was found in Waimanu manneringi stood upright and waddled like modern day penguins, but was likely more awkward in the water. Some fossil penguins were much larger than any penguin living today, reaching 4. Instead, they have backward-facing fleshy spines that line the inside of their mouths.

These help them guide their fishy meals down their throat. Penguins are carnivores: they feed on fish, squid, crabs, krill and other seafood they catch while swimming. Eating so much seafood means drinking a lot of saltwater, but penguins have a way to remove it. The supraorbital gland, located just above their eye, filters salt from their bloodstream, which is then excreted through the bill—or by sneezing!

Another adaptive gland—the oil also called preen gland—produces waterproofing oil. They can be highly tolerant of humans though. A significant proportion of penguin species reside and breed in Antarctic and sub-antarctic waters. Humans are few and far between there and the penguins show no fear of humans on the few occasions they show up.

A few penguin species can be found where humans live. Penguins have no special fear of humans , and will often approach groups of people. This is probably because penguins have no land predators in Antarctica or the nearby offshore islands. Hello Nate, Yes, penguins are edible by humans. Many of the early expeditions to Antarctica supplemented their diets with fresh penguin meat during their long voyages, especially since the food that they brought was often lacking in nutrients or sometimes spoiled.

As far as we know, penguins don't cry , at least not like people do. But they do something else that is really cool and is a little like crying. Well penguins also need fresh water to drink. When they are on land that is easy, they eat snow or drink from puddles. Due to the harsh rocky environment, they cannot slide on their bellies like most penguins , so they hop to get from one place to another.

Humans could be dangerous to seabirds like these two king penguins in South Georgia, Antarctica. CNN Scientists have long thought that animals in Antarctica were isolated from harmful human -linked bacteria, but a new study provides evidence that this is no longer the case. One confused penguin even kidnapped its own natural enemy, the chick of a penguin - eating bird called a skua.