King+penguin

Animal: Animal Group: Description of animal group ||. King penguin Bird - vertebrates Scientific name: Aptenodytes patagonicus Penguins are a bird family which evolved soon after the dinosaur extinction from a common ancient ancestor with loons and petrels, as DNA analysis showed. They live exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere, from [|Antarctica] to the tropics, in Galapagos islands. || [] || Observation Describe your animal (Colour, size, body parts) || King Penguins are one of the most visually-stunning creatures in Antarctica – with their bright yellow-orange features on their upper chest, orange tear-drop shaped ear patches and grey-black backs. King Penguins are the second largest penguin, behind the Emperor species, reaching a height of 85 to 95 centimetres and a weight of about 14 to 16.5 kilograms.
 * King penguins** can live to over 30 years of age in captivity, and in the wild they normally return to the same site to breed throughout their life.
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 * __**Description**__

King penguins have colourful feathers around their necks and heads, with they are the brightest of all the species of penguin

Distinctive features of the King penguin include a silvery-grey back with a blackish-brown head decorated with striking ear patches of bright golden-orange feathers. They are similar in appearance to the [|Emperor penguin] but can be identified by the orange coloring on their breasts, more slender bodies and longer bills. As are most penguins, males and females are monomorphic, meaning they are similar in both size and appearance with behavioral clues providing the best means of identification. || Describe how your animal behaves (moves, flies, runs) || My animal moves by sliding and waddling and when they are hungry they dive into the water and swim after fish
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 * **__Movement:__**

In the snow, they move forward by sliding on their bellies. In the water, their legs and their tail (which is streamlined and shaped like a triangle) serve as a steering rudder; and with their flippers they propel themselves through the water.

Due to the extended breeding cycle some birds can be found in the colony at any time of the year. During winter, adults leave their chicks unattended and may travel extensively before returning. Stragglers have reached the Antarctic Peninsula, Mawson, Gough Island, South Africa, southern Australia (including Tasmania), the North and South Islands of New Zealand, as well as New Zealand’s sub-Antarctic islands. Penguins are intensely social, breeding as well as living in large social colonies. They are excellent swimmers, and they live as well, if not better, in water as they do on land. The King Penguin walks on land or ice, and smooth rocks. In the snow, they move forward by sliding on their bellies. In the water, their legs and their tail (which is streamlined and shaped like a triangle) serve as a steering rudder; and with their flippers they propel themselves through the water. When diving deep repeatedly their body temperature drops in the water, and they playfully dive up and down until they have eaten enough. [] || Where it lives || ===Habitat=== The breeding areas of King Penguins are restricted to sub-Antarctic islands where the temperatures rarely exceed 10°C. In winter, the adults probably travel south towards the Antarctic pack-ice. Their breeding colonies can usually rocky ground but there can be ice or snow, too,
 * **Unlike many other penguins, the King penguin runs with its feet as opposed to hopping while on land.** ||
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King penguin colonies are established on beaches, valleys and glacial moraines free of snow and ice; they prefer level ground near the sea. || What it eats How it eats || King penguins feed by deep water pursuit-diving, using their flippers to propel themselves to depths of several hundred feet. Dives may last 15 minutes or more. Their diet includes small fish and squid, krill, and plankton. At sea, the key predators of King penguins are the [|Leopard seals] and [|Killer whales] who wait beneath the surface near the shore for unsuspecting birds. Opportunistic [|shore birds] such as: [|skuas], [|sheathbills] and [|Giant petrels] often raid the colonies on land to take eggs and young birds when unattended by adults.
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 * **__Feeding Habits:__**

King Penguins hunt in groups; this way experience can be gained from the older animals, who know where to find the prey. (we actually don’t know whether the young ones stay with the older animals. Probably not. First because they leave the breeding colonies at different times to most adults, and second because they don’t breed until they are a few years old, they are free to go wherever they want. Breeding adults are much more restricted.)Their food is found at about 10-200 metres below the surface in the summer, and they are excellent divers in order to retrieve their food. King penguins travel hundreds of kilometres to catch their prey. In the winter, some of the fish they depend upon in summer move to deeper waters. King penguins then eat more squid because they cannot dive much beyond 300 m. Dives last an average2 to 5 minutes but dives lasting more than 8 minutes have been recorded. They hunt every day for several hours. This is particularly important before they moult. During the moult, the penguins are no longer waterproof and have to stay on land. For that time they rely entirely on body reserves that have to be laid down a month or so before the moult starts. During the moult, the penguins can loose up to 50% of their body mass. When at sea, they drink salt water. At their breeding colonies, they drink freshwater or eat snow if it is available. || [] || How does it have babies? How does it care for its babies? How long do they live? || King penguins breed on seven sub-Antarctic island groups with large populations on the Falkland Is lands, Macquarie Islands, Heard Island, Iles Crozet and Marion island. Kings are unique in that they have an unusually long breeding season. At any one time chicks of various ages are present in the colonies as eggs are laid anytime from November through April.
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 * **__Breeding Habits:__**

Adults can rear a maximum of only two chicks every three years.

Both parents share in the care of the egg which takes approximately five weeks to hatch. Incubating birds are basically immobile although they can shuffle along slowly to avoid lumbering [|Southern Elephant seals] which occasionally wander through the colonies. Once hatched, the dark brown downy chicks fast for long periods of time between meals while the adults are away feeding at sea. Chicks are reared right through the winter (huddling in 'creches' or nursery groups to keep warm) and only fledge the following summer.

King Penguins raises only 2 young every 3 years, due to the long period that they care for them (1 year). They lay an egg early the first year, late the second, and no egg the third.


 * King penguins** can live to over 30 years of age in captivity, and in the wild they normally return to the same site to breed throughout their life.

Kings are unique in that they have an unusually long breeding season. At any one time chicks of various ages are present in the colonies as eggs are laid anytime from November through April. From courtship through hatching of the eggs to the fledging of the chick may take 14 months or more making annual breeding impossible. Like the Emperors, King penguins' eggs are incubated on the adults' feet and not in nests. Both parents share in the care of the egg which takes approximately five weeks to hatch. Incubating birds are basically immobile although they can shuffle along slowly to avoid lumbering [|Southern Elephant seals] which occasionally wander through the colonies. Once hatched, the dark brown downy chicks fast for long periods of time between meals while the adults are away feeding at sea. Chicks are reared right through the winter (huddling in 'creches' or nursery groups to keep warm) and only fledge the following summer. Early explorers erroneously thought King chicks to be a separate species from the adults calling them 'Woolly penguins.' || [] || What does it do during the day and night? || Habits: Dense colonies, which can number several tens of thousand pairs, are located amongst tussocks, gently sloping beaches, and sometimes can be over a kilometre inland. No nest is built, but pairs still maintain territories within pecking distance of each other.
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Behaviour
Penguins are intensely social, breeding as well as living in large social colonies. They are excellent swimmers, and they live as well, if not better, in water as they do on land. The King Penguin walks on land or ice, and smooth rocks. In the snow, they move forward by sliding on their bellies. In the water, their legs and their tail (which is streamlined and shaped like a triangle) serve as a steering rudder; and with their flippers they propel themselves through the water. When diving deep repeatedly their body temperature drops in the water, and they playfully dive up and down until they have eaten enough. || How has it changed over time in Antarctica? || King penguins that feed on fish and squid at the northern edges of Antarctica are threatened by global warming, which is cutting down on their food supply, researchers reported on Monday. King penguins, the second-largest species after emperor penguins, are at the top of the food chain in their sub-Antarctic environment, thriving on small fish and squid rather than the tiny krill and other crustaceans that sea mammals favor. This makes king penguins good indicators of changes in their ecosystem, scientists said in research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Scientists at the CNRS Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien in Strasbourg, France, studied king penguins on Possession Island in the southern Indian Ocean over nine years. The researchers found that high sea surface temperatures in the area where the king penguins spent the winters cut the amount of available marine prey, which in turn cut the survival rate of adult king penguins. Their study found a 9 percent decline in the adult penguin population for every 0.46 degree F (0.26 degree C) of sea surface warming.
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 * **Adaptations:**


 * **In the 19th and 20th centuries, the oil, flesh, eggs and skins of King penguins were used by sealers as fuel, food and clothes.** ||
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 * **Threats:** || At sea, the key predators of King penguins are the [|Leopard seals] and [|Killer whales] who wait beneath the surface near the shore for unsuspecting birds. Opportunistic [|shore birds] such as: [|skuas], [|sheathbills] and [|Giant petrels] often raid the colonies on land to take eggs and young birds when unattended by adults.

Many experts believe that increased tourism in Antarctica could lead to negative impact on penguin populations. "The Antarctic is an extremely fragile environment, and the mere presence of thousands of people visiting colonies during the breeding period has the potential for damage to the population," said Ponganis. "Most people don't realize that merely viewing wild animals can cause them stress, which in turn might affect their chick-rearing abilities," he said. || In the past, there has been some special concern for the King Penguin. They are now protected almost everywhere. Over the years, and especially in the early 1900s, king penguins were in great demand for their blubber, oil, and especially feathers. The result was a reduction in the range of the species, as they were completely exterminated in some areas. The king penguin has also been harmed by oil spills and hunters who are egg collectors. Much of this activity is now banned, and the populations are currently increasing.
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 * **Other Facts:** || special concern.

Other Comments
This species is second largest in its genus, and the second largest of all the penguins; only the Emperor penguin is larger.

Kings are unique in that they have an unusually long breeding season. || Type in the content of your page here.
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