Journey to remote Antarctica aboard the Sea Adventurer

Penguin Picture

Calgary Zoo Penguin Exhibit

Penguin Internet

ペンギン

Memphis Zoo Shots

baby penguins

mainly king Penguins, the size of small rotund children. ohh one fell over!

Color of Life note: The blackish-grey top surface of the African Penguin camouflages it from predators above it and the mostly white underside does the same for predators below it.

TAXONOMY

Kingdom:Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Subphylum: Vertebrata

Class: Aves (birds)

Order: Sphenisciformes (Penguins )

Family: Spheniscidae

Genus/species: Spheniscus demersus

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS: Like most birds with shared parental duties, sexes are similar in appearance. Adults: upper parts blackish-grey, underparts mostly white with inverted black horseshoe extending down flank to thigh. Feet and legs black. Chicks arrive with secondary down feathers. Juveniles are grey blue and immatures gradually come to resemble adults in aprox. 3 years..

Length up to To 70 cm (28 inches) tall.

Weight up to 3.5 kg (7.7 lb)

DISTRIBUTION/HABITAT: Found off the Coasts of South Africa and Namibia. Nests in colonies mainly on offshore islands. Rarely encountered more than 8 km from islands or mainland.

DIET IN THE WILD: Piscivorous. They feed primarily on shoaling fishes such as anchovies, mackerel and herring. They can reach a top speed of close to 20 km/h (12 mph). On the west coast a typical foraging trip could range from 30 to 70 km (18-44 miles) for a single trip. On the south coast, foraging birds cover an average of 110 km (68 miles) per trip.

Academy diet: Vitamin fortified herring, and capelin.

REPRODUCTION: Monogamous colonial nesters. They dig nesting burrows.and lays 2 eggs which are then incubated by both parents for about 40 days. The pair feeds their young for about one month by regurgitating food into the hatchling's mouth.The average time to independence is 80 days.

LONGEVITY: May live to at least 25 years.

PREDATORS: Seals in the water and mongooses, large-spotted genets and leopards on land. Eggs and chicks are eaten by feral cats, Kelp gulls and Sacred Ibises.

CONSERVATION: IUCN Red List: Vulnerable (VU) 2010

Threats: Depleted fish stocks, collection of guano fertilizer, oil pollution and collection of eggs in the past have resulted in a 90 percent drop in the population since 1900.

REMARKS: The alternate common name “jackass” is a reference to its donkey-like vocalization.

California Academy of Sciences penguins

Wing bands identify males females and couples. Males right, females left and couples are the same color.

African penguins are finding a strong ally in the Species Survival Plan (SSP), a program sponsored by the California Academy of Sciences and 53 other zoos and scientific institutions in the U.S. and Canada. The captive population acts as a reservoir for genetic diversity, and could eventually be used to bolster wild penguin populations.

See the Academy web site below for more information and a 24 hour web cam.

Penguins constantly work to keep their feathers clean, well-oiled, and waterproofed. They preen their feathers by nipping at an oil glad at the base of their tail to express oil which transferred to their beaks and then to their body feathers.

References

Ron's Wordpress shortlink wp.me/p1DZ4b-1xH

California Academy of Sciences www.calacademy.org/explore-science/common-penguin-behaviors

California Academy of Sciences www.calacademy.org/explore-science/live-penguin-cams

BirdLife International www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=3861

ARKive

www.arkive.org/african-penguin/spheniscus-demersus/

Animal Diversity Web

animaldiversity.org/accounts/Spheniscus_demersus/

IUCN Red List www.iucnredlist.org/details/22697810/0

2006, 2009, 2015

Penguin

kaiyu-kan, Osaka

Kelly Tarltons penguins. Female on the far left was nesting an egg. Male in the centre was fending off the other penguins

King Penguins at the Osaka Aquarium

Penguins at the Calgary Zoo

Tierpark Hellabrunn, Munich

1. penguin_with_hat, 2. Baby Shower Cupcakes, 3. March of the Penguins, 4. penguin 1, 5. Tasty Mr Penguin, 6. Penguin Cupcake, 7. Miss Maires Penguin cupcakes, 8. Penguin Cupcake, 9. penguin cupcakes, 10. Of Penguins and Ducks 1/2, 11. "Surf's Up" Birthday Cupcakes, 12. Penguin cupcakes, 13. Penguin Cupcakes, 14. Fondant Penguins on Frupcakes Cupcakes, 15. Part 4/4. Gift time!, 16. Pink Penguins Celebrate Christmas

View this week's Scrumptious Sunday Post!

He looks a bit grumpy doesn't he?

emperor penguins

Feeding time at the Mystic Aquarium located in Mystic, CT

Volunteer Point, Falkland Islands

Penguin Australia

Copyright Jan Will. This image may not be used without permission. A license can be aquired here

Thís image is an image composition/design. Actually I have never seen a penguin egg in real life, but a chicken egg did it :-) The penguins a real.

Osaka Aquarium (Osaka, Japan)

just another little penguin.

Two emperor Penguins, Edinburgh zoo, doing an ABBA pose.

A penguin at the Philadelphia Zoo Photo by Lauren Russell.

Penguins at Schoenbrunn Zoo, Vienna

Like at Simon's Town, the boardwalk at the penguin colony ran within feet of the nest burrows and the rocks where the penguins would rest, and they were totally used to humans being nearby.

This made it a good opportunity for some close-up shots of their face patterns.