King Penguin

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King Penguin

Conservation status

Image:Status iucn3.1 LC.svg
Least Concern

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Sphenisciformes
Family:	Spheniscidae
Genus:	Aptenodytes
Species:	A. patagonicus

Binomial name

Aptenodytes patagonicus
Miller,JF, 1778

The King Penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus) is the second largest species of penguin at about 90 cm (3 ft) tall and weighing 11 to 16 kg (24 to 35 lb), second only to the Emperor Penguin. There are two subspecies - A. p. patagonicus and A. p. halli; patagonicus is found in the South Atlantic and halli elsewhere.

King penguins eat small fish, mainly lanternfish, and squid and rely less than most Southern Ocean predators on krill and other crustaceans. On foraging trips they repeatedly dive to over 100 meters (350 feet), often over 200 meters (700 feet). This is far deeper than other penguins, other than their closest relative, the larger Emperor penguin.

King Penguins breed on the subantarctic islands at the northern reaches of Antarctica, as well as Tierra del Fuego, the Falkland Islands, and other temperate islands of the region. The total population is estimated to be 2.23 million pairs and is increasing.^[1]

1 Crèche
2 Breeding
3 Adaptations to the environment
4 Drinking
5 Notable King Penguins
6 References
7 External links

Crèche

The King Penguin feeds its chicks by eating a fish, digesting it slightly and regurgitating the food into the chick's mouth. When the young penguins are large enough, they will often form crèches, a group of many chicks together. A penguin can leave its chick at a crèche while it fishes as a few adult penguins stay behind to look after them. Other varieties of penguins also practice this method of communal care for offspring.

Breeding

Image:IMG 1247 mating king penguins.JPG

Mating King Penguins at Macquarie Island

Because of their large size, King Penguin chicks take 14-16 months before they are ready to go to sea. This is markedly different from smaller penguins, who rear their chicks through a single summer when food is plentiful. King Penguins time their mating so the chicks will develop over the harshest season for fishing. In this way, by the time the young penguins are finally mature enough to leave their parents, it is summer when food is plentiful and conditions are more favorable for the young to survive alone.

Breeding begins in November or December. The egg is incubated for around 55 days with both birds sharing incubation. By April the chicks are almost fully grown, but lose weight during the winter months, gaining it again during spring in September. Fledging then takes place in late spring/early summer. King penguins normally only breed after they are 4 years old. King Penguins form huge breeding colonies - for example the colony on South Georgia Island at Salisbury Plain holds over 25,000 birds and the one at St. Andrew's Bay over 100,000 birds. Because of the long breeding cycle, colonies are continuously occupied.

Adaptations to the environment

Great colony of king penguins an Salisbury Plain in South Georgia

King penguins have adapted well to their extreme living conditions in the subantarctic. To keep warm, the penguins have four layers of feathering. The outer layer of feathers are oiled and waterproof, not unlike the feathering of a duck. The inner three layers are down feathers, very effective insulation. A chick is born without the oily outer layer, and therefore cannot fish until maturity.

Drinking

Like most penguins, the King Penguin is able to drink salt water because of their supraorbital gland which filters excess salt from their blood stream by way of a capillary just above the penguin's eyes. The excess salt is then expelled through the penguin's nose in a salty brine.

Notable King Penguins

Nils Olav, mascot and Colonel in Chief of the Royal Norwegian Guard
Misha, a central character and metaphor in two novels by Ukranian writer Andrey Kurkov
The King Penguin is also the species of penguin represented by the popular character Pondus, an image found on various paraphernalia in many retail stores throughout Canada. Pondus originates in Danish children's books written and photographed by Ivar Myrhøj and published by publisher Lademann in the late 1960s.

References

BirdLife International (2004). Aptenodytes patagonicus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern

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