The penguins are characterized by two black bands between their breast. The Magellanic penguins feed on squid, krill, cuttlefish, and other crustaceans in the water. The species is classified as near threatened by IUCN. Climate change triggered increased frequency of extreme events like wildfires, storms, temperature extremes, etc. The white-flippered penguin Eudyptula minor albosignata is a small penguin that stands at about 30 cm tall.
It obtains its name from the white markings on its flippers. The penguins feed on small shoaling fish and cephalopods. The little penguin Eudyptula minor is the smallest species of penguin that grows to an average of 33 cm only in height. These penguins can be observed along the coastlines of New Zealand and southern Australia. Due to their blue plumage and small size, they are fondly named as the fairy penguins.
The penguins feed on small clupeoid fish, crustaceans, and cephalopods. Although classified as a least concern species, the little penguins are subjected to human disturbances in their habitat.
Some of these penguins drown due to the effects of bycatch fishing. Oil spills and plastic pollution are also lethal to the penguins. The most characteristic phenotype of these penguins is the wide white stripe stretching like a bonnet the top of the head.
They also possess a bright orange-colored bill and a fairly long tail. The gentoos attain a height of 51 to 90 cm which makes them the third largest penguin species. Gentoo penguins breed in many sub-Antarctic islands with the major colonies based in South Georgia, Kerguelen Islands, and the Falkland Islands. These birds feed on krill and other crustaceans as well as fish. Sea lions, killer whales, and leopard seals often prey on the gentoos while many seabirds steal their eggs.
The chinstrap penguin Pygoscelis antarcticus lives on the islands and shores of the Antarctic Ocean and the southern Pacific Ocean. The penguin gets its name from the narrow black band under its head which makes it appear as if it is wearing a helmet. These penguins have an average length of 72 cm and weigh around 3 to 5 kg. The species has a circumpolar distribution. Krill, squid, fish, and shrimp constitute the food of these penguins.
These penguins are mid-sized with size ranging from 46 to 71 cm. Although the population of these penguins is still quite stable, climate change threatens the future survival of this species. The King penguin Aptenodytes patagonicus is the second largest penguin after the emperor penguin. Two subspecies of the king penguin have been recognized, the A. King penguins feed on small fish, squid, and lanternfish. The emperor penguin Aptenodytes forsteri an endemic species to Antarctica.
Eastern rockhopper penguins Eudyptes chrysocome filholi are very closely related to southern rockhoppers - in fact they can only be differentiated by their DNA and their unique birdsongs. These cryptic penguins inhabit several sub-Antarctic islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. They are unusual and awesome , as they are the only penguin to live in rainforests!
Allied king penguins Aptenodytes patagonicus halli inhabit the southern islands of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, such as Marion Island. There are no easily identifiable differences between the two types of king penguins, but they are genetically distinct. Allied king penguins tend to be highly variable in size due to the different diets they are exposed to on the islands they inhabit. Gentoo penguins have generally been regarded as a single species, with a smaller subspecies that lives on Antarctica Pygoscelis papua ellsworthii and a larger one that inhabits Subantarctic islands Pygoscelis papua papua , such as South Africa's Marion Island.
A recent genetic study in Ecology and Evolution has revealed that not only are those two subspecies actually distinct species, but the Subantarctic variety is actually divided into three! These proposed 4 gentoo species divisions are not yet verified, but it seems certain that they will at least be regarded as new subspecies of Pygoscelis papua. Gentoo penguins Pygoscelis papua are larger than the other types of gentoos, even though those are the ones you most likely recognise from photos.
These gentoos inhabit the Falkland Islands, but are also considered inhabitants of other southern Indian and Atlantic Oceans islands, such as Marion Island, in definitions that do not include the two new species.
They make their nests from mounds of grass collected near their beaches. Ellsworth's gentoo penguins Pygoscelis papua ellsworthii , proposed Pygoscelis ellsworthii live exclusively on the coast of Antarctica. They look virtually identical to their non-Antarctic counterparts, but are significantly smaller - a possible adaptation to food scarcity in the colder Antarctic waters.
These gentoos have also adapted to next on gravelly beaches and the mouths of rocky glacial valleys on the Western Antarctic Peninsula, South Shetland Islands and South Orkney Islands.
Despite its name, the colour pattern of the Kerguelen gentoo Pygoscelis taeniata is virtually identical to other gentoos. Originally described as a member of the Pygoscelis papua papua subspecies, these small gentoos are now being more commonly regarded as a distinct species - with some speculating that they may be further divided in future.
South Georgia gentoos Pygoscelis poncetii are the second-largest type of gentoo penguin, although they too have the identical colour pattern. They are otherwise similar in lifestyle to other island-dwelling gentoos, although it has been noted that their population is in decline due to depleting fish stocks in their local waters.
Until recently, New Zealand's little penguins were recognised as different subspecies of Eudyptula minor. When genetic testing was done to determine if these subspecies were significant, it was determined that they are all genetically similar , and thus no longer considered separate. Still, they are cute enough to share with you. The diminutive white-flippered penguins Eudyptula minor albosignata live only in a few small colonies on the tiny islands on the east coast of New Zealand's South Island.
Not only are they unique among little penguins for the white markings on the flippers, but they are the only nocturnal penguin. Cook Strait little penguins Eudyptula minor variabilis inhabit the southern end of the northern island of New Zealand.
Northern little penguins Eudyptula minor iredalei live at the northern end of the northern island of New Zealand. If you've read this far, you may be wondering why some of these penguins are regarded as their own species, but others aren't. Why are the white-flippered penguins and fairy penguins the same species, but the Macaroni and royal penguins are different?
We'll try to keep this simple:. The fact that many penguin types are geographically isolated from each other creates difficulty in determining their status as species, but with more research and genetic testing, this list will be narrowed down further.
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