King penguins are epic hunters, scarfing down as many as 2, fish in a single day. The birds use large flippers to swim at speeds of six miles an hour in pursuit of lanternfish and squid. This part of the ocean is known as the dysphotic or twilight zone , and it gets darker the deeper one goes. To account for this, king penguins have excellent night vision , even though they do most of their hunting during the day.
Of course, king penguins also have to watch out for predators of their own. In the ocean, these include orcas, leopard seals, Antarctic fur seals, and South American sea lions. On the stony shores they call home, king penguins must also protect their eggs and chicks from avian predators such as giant petrels, skuas, lesser sheathbills , turkey vultures, and caracaras.
King penguins are like emperor penguins in that they do not build nests. Instead, the male and female take turns cradling their eggs on top of their feet and keeping young warm with a special flap of naked skin known as the brood pouch.
The breeding cycle can last between 13 and 16 months. Female king penguins tend to lay one egg each year, though breeding is often only successful every other year. Egg incubation takes around 54 days , after which the parents must keep returning to the chick and regurgitating food into its mouth to help it survive the winter.
However, research suggests that climate change could threaten some king penguin populations in the future. Rising sea surface temperatures affect the movements of prey species, and models predict that particularly in the South Indian Ocean, king penguins will soon have to travel longer distances to find the same amount of food.
Scientists also theorize that changing temperatures could drive prey species deeper into the ocean, possibly pushing king penguins to the limits of their diving abilities. Disease outbreaks, disturbance from tourism and development, and invasive species round out the dangers known to threaten king penguins.
An immature bird will have yellow rather than orange-tinged markings and grey tips to its black brown feathers. It moults into adult plumage at after reaching two years of age. The chick is first covered with brown-grey down, before moulting into a thick, woolly brown coat borne until around months of age. Their mandibular plates are black until the moult into immature plumage. 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 their feathers are oiled and waterproof, not unlike the feathering of a duck. The inner three layers are down feathers , and are very effective insulaters. A chick is born without the oily outer layer, and therefore cannot fish until maturity.
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. Great colony of king penguins an Salisbury Plain in South Georgia. King Penguins breed on the subantarctic islands between 45 and 55 o S, at the northern reaches of Antarctica , as well as Tierra del Fuego , the Falkland Islands , and other temperate islands of the region.
The largest breeding populations are on Crozet Island, with around , pairs, , pairs on the Prince Edward Islands, , - , on the Kerguelen Islands and over , on the South Georgia Islands.
Macquarie Island has around 70, pairs. The non-breeding range is poorly known though presumably the subantarctic waters of the southern Indian, South Atlantic and Asian part of the Southern Ocean.
The American physiologist Gerry Kooyman revolutionized the study of penguin foraging behaviour in when he published his results from attaching automatic dive-recording devices to Emperor Penguins, and recording a dive of meters feet by a King Penguin in The current maximum dive recorded exceeds metres feet at South Georgia, and a maximum time submerged of 9 minutes recorded at the Crozet Islands.
The King Penguin dives to depths of meters feet , spending around 5 minutes submerged, during daylight hours, and less than 30 meters feet at night. They have been described as U-shaped or W-shaped, relating to the course of the dive. Other penguins dive in this latter foraging pattern in contrast. Observations at Crozet Islands revealed most King Penguins were seen within 30 km 18 mi of the colony. Using the average swimming speed, Kooyman estimated the distance travelled to foraging areas at 28 km 17 mi.
Its average swimming speed is 6. On land, the King Penguin alternates between walking with a wobbling gait and tobogganing—sliding over the ice on its belly, propelled by its feet and wing-like flippers. Finding a parent in a king penguin colony: the acoustic system of individual recognition. Animal Behavior , Nolan, J. Ornborg, F. Ultraviolet beak spots in king and emperor penguins. The Condor , Kooyman, G. Cherel, Y. Le Maho, J. Croxall, P. Thorson, V. Ridoux, C.
Diving behavior and energetics during foraging cycles in king penguins. Ecological Monographs , Lockley, R. Seabirds of the World. McGonigal, D. Antarctica and the Arctic: The Complete Encyclopedia. Ontario: Firefly Books. Nelson, B. Seabirds, Their Biology and Ecology. Nicolaus, M. Le Bohec, P. Nolan, M. Gauthier-Clerc, Y. Komdeur, P. Ornamental colors reveal age in the king penguin. Nolan, P. Dobson, M. Nicolaus, T. Karels, K. McGraw, P. Mutual mate choice for colorful traits in king penguins.
Ethology , Olsson, O. Clutch abandonment: a state-dependent decision in king penguins. Journal of Avian Biology , Seasonal effects of timing and reproduction in the king penguin: a unique breeding cycle.
Otley, H. Nature-based tourism: Experiences at the volunteer point penguin colony in the Falkland Islands. Marine Ornithology , Parmelee, D.
Antarctic Birds: Ecological and Behavioral Approaches. Minneapolis: University of Minnnesota Press. Putz, K. Feeding behavior of free-ranging king penguins Aptenodytes patagonicus. Ecology , Richdale, L. Sexual Behavior in Penguins. Lawrence: University of Kansas Press. Shirihai, H. Viera, V. Nolan, S. Cote, P. Jouventin, R. Is territory defence related to plumage ornaments in the king penguin Aptenodytes patagonicus?.
Stone-swallowing by three species of penguins at sub-antarctic Marion Island. To cite this page: Edwards, K. Disclaimer: The Animal Diversity Web is an educational resource written largely by and for college students. ADW doesn't cover all species in the world, nor does it include all the latest scientific information about organisms we describe.
Though we edit our accounts for accuracy, we cannot guarantee all information in those accounts. While ADW staff and contributors provide references to books and websites that we believe are reputable, we cannot necessarily endorse the contents of references beyond our control.
Aptenodytes patagonicus king penguin Facebook. Geographic Range Aptenodytes patagonicus king penguins colonies are mainly located on islands surrounding Antarctica.
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