Spheniscformes: Elisabeth
Examples of order:
- Galapagos penguin, Yellow-eyed penguin, African penguin, Macaroni penguin
Habitat:
- Most of them live in the Southern Hemisphere, especially in Antarctica. Some exceptions are found in Chile, Argentina, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
What they eat:
- They often eat krill, fish and squid. In general, penguins closer to the equator eat more fish and penguins closer to Antarctica eat more squid and krill.
Method of eating:
- They do all of their hunting in the water. Penguins don’t have to swim that deep below the surface because most of their prey can be found within 60 feet of the surface. Prey is caught in their beaks and swallowed whole as they swim.
Physical characteristics:
- The penguin's body is adapted for swimming. Its body is tapered at both ends and streamlined. -A penguin has a short neck, large head, and long body.
- The tail is short and wedge-shaped.
- The legs and webbed feet help penguins have a vertical posture on land.
- All adult penguins are countershaded, which means that they are dark colored on the back and white on the ventral side. The reason behind this is because they blend in with the lighter surface when from below and they blend in with the dark ocean depths when seen from above, which helps them escape from predators and facilitate the hunt for preys.
- The 18 different species of penguins can be distinguished by their head and facial marks.
- The penguin’s feathers overlap one another to protect their skin. This prevents the water to contact their skin.
Behaviour:
- 75% of their lives are spent in the water.
- Penguins like to stay in groups while they swim, nest and feed.
- During their breeding season, they form groups up to around 1000 penguins and stay together.
- Penguins can find their mates and their chicks by their unique call, even in large groups.
- Penguins usually live harmoniously together, but on occasions, when they fight, they use their flippers and bills.
- Penguins breed during the spring through summer.
- Males create a nest and start to attract females.
- The males are responsible for taking care of the eggs and they keep it on their feet for the time before it hatches.
- Galapagos penguin, Yellow-eyed penguin, African penguin, Macaroni penguin
Habitat:
- Most of them live in the Southern Hemisphere, especially in Antarctica. Some exceptions are found in Chile, Argentina, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
What they eat:
- They often eat krill, fish and squid. In general, penguins closer to the equator eat more fish and penguins closer to Antarctica eat more squid and krill.
Method of eating:
- They do all of their hunting in the water. Penguins don’t have to swim that deep below the surface because most of their prey can be found within 60 feet of the surface. Prey is caught in their beaks and swallowed whole as they swim.
Physical characteristics:
- The penguin's body is adapted for swimming. Its body is tapered at both ends and streamlined. -A penguin has a short neck, large head, and long body.
- The tail is short and wedge-shaped.
- The legs and webbed feet help penguins have a vertical posture on land.
- All adult penguins are countershaded, which means that they are dark colored on the back and white on the ventral side. The reason behind this is because they blend in with the lighter surface when from below and they blend in with the dark ocean depths when seen from above, which helps them escape from predators and facilitate the hunt for preys.
- The 18 different species of penguins can be distinguished by their head and facial marks.
- The penguin’s feathers overlap one another to protect their skin. This prevents the water to contact their skin.
Behaviour:
- 75% of their lives are spent in the water.
- Penguins like to stay in groups while they swim, nest and feed.
- During their breeding season, they form groups up to around 1000 penguins and stay together.
- Penguins can find their mates and their chicks by their unique call, even in large groups.
- Penguins usually live harmoniously together, but on occasions, when they fight, they use their flippers and bills.
- Penguins breed during the spring through summer.
- Males create a nest and start to attract females.
- The males are responsible for taking care of the eggs and they keep it on their feet for the time before it hatches.