They feed on a diet of squid, fish, and crustaceans. They build nests on beaches and in grass tussocks and are highly aggressive in defending their turf. Gentoos use stones to form their nests, and males often give stones to females as courtship gifts. Egg-laying can occur as early as June but in colder areas is delayed until December.
Gentoo penguins are monogamous and have up to three breeding seasons, but generally they find new partners after that. Female gentoo penguins lay two eggs, switching incubation duties with males daily. After hatching about 35 days later, it takes another month for gentoo penguin chicks to fledge, at which point they're able to venture out to the sea.
Unlike other penguins, gentoo chicks fledge prior to becoming independent. Gentoo penguins live about years and are one of the fastest-swimming birds, reaching speeds up to 36 kph 22 mph. With roughly seven million pairs of chinstrap penguins in the world, it's not surprising when one of these penguins is spotted from an expedition ship.
Adult chinstrap penguins are one of the most abundant penguins in the world, with an average height of 68 to 76 cm 27 to 30 inches and weight between 3. They live on a diet of fish and krill, and typically have two chicks per mating season, born between late February and early March.
Chinstrap penguins are near-shore feeders, usually foraging among pack ice. And because they feed by pursuit, they have short dive times of less than a minute and seldom dive to depths of more than 60 meters feet. Most of their dives are less than 45 m feet.
When in water chinstrap penguins reach speeds of about 30 kph 18 mph , and on land they slide around the ice on their stomachs with their feet and flippers propelling them.
Chinstrap penguins live for about 20 years and breed in large colonies, even at times living on icebergs floating in the open ocean. They are also an aggressive species, often getting into fights with other penguins. These island-dwelling crested penguins have an estimated population of 12 million pairs.
Adult macaroni penguins and chinstrap penguins are virtually identical in terms of height and weight, growing to around 70 cm 28 inches and 5.
They form huge colonies that can number in the hundreds of thousands and are located on hillsides as well as rocky cliffs. In South Georgia, macaroni penguins arrive to breed in late October and lay their eggs two weeks later. Females lay two eggs, the first much smaller than the second, and the smaller egg rarely hatches. Both parents share incubating duties, but it comes at a great energy expense: Adult macaronis lose up to half their body weight in the process.
The young macaroni chick fledges for two months after hatching, with just one parent staying at home to look after it. This focus on raising one chick means that the macaroni penguin population doesn't have the boom-bust population cycle like some other penguin species. Macaroni chicks grow enough within 10 weeks to leave their parents behind and integrate into the adult penguin population. They live about 15 years in the wild.
Because there's contention as to what distinguishes a rockhopper penguin , the species has been divided into three fairly distinct subspecies by reproductive behavior and breeding location: northern, southern, and eastern rockhopper penguin.
Rockhoppers are one of the smallest penguin species, and the smallest of the crested penguins, with an average height of 50 cm Skuas and sheathbills also eat penguin eggs and chicks. Penguins are only found in the Southern Hemisphere. The greatest concentrations are on Antarctic coasts and sub-Antarctic islands. There are 18 species of penguins, 5 of which live in Antarctica.
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These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data. These unique characteristics are reflected in the wildlife living in each place. Some species, like polar bears, evolved to hunt and breed on the ever-shifting ice pack of the Arctic, while other types of closely related species, such as ringed seals and Weddell seals , have adaptations specific to life in the north or south. And one incredible animal—the Arctic tern —lives at both ends of the Earth, thanks to the longest known migration on the planet.
See amazing pictures of animals in the coldest places on Earth. One of the most common mistakes is that penguins live in the Arctic.
In fact, this penguin-free region is home to another charismatic bird—the Atlantic puffin. These colorful birds dress up their black and white plumage with an orange, parrot-like beak and feet. Like penguins, puffins are excellent swimmers and divers—equipped with waterproof feathers and an ability to drink seawater—and breed in large colonies along the shore. See the real story behind the amazing photo of a puffin gorging on fish.
Unlike penguins, however, puffins can fly at an astounding 55 miles per hour, which helps them quickly bring fish back to their young nesting ashore. As the coldest, driest, and windiest place on Earth, Antarctica is mostly a huge, lifeless desert.
Its largest land animal is a wingless midge, Belgica antarctica , whose adults live about a week. That's because penguins, which are plentiful along the Antarctic coasts—particularly the Antarctic Peninsula and the Ross Sea —are considered coastal animals, not land dwellers. So, despite what you may see in cartoons and other popular media, there are no penguins at the South Pole. These giant ursines range widely across the region and live year-round as far south as James Bay, which is at the same latitude as London.
Ice is essential to polar bears, which use it as a hunting platform for catching seals when they surface to breathe. See incredible photographs taken at both poles. The Arctic boasts other land predators, including the Arctic wolf , a subspecies of the gray wolf, and the Arctic fox. With such an inhospitable interior, Antarctic wildlife instead thrives in, out of, and around frigid ocean waters. Antarctic waters brim with krill, a tiny crustacean that feeds large whales, including blue , humpback , and minke whales, as well as penguins.
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