Antarctic Penguins
| There are many species of penguins that are not just in Antarctica, but all over the southern hemisphere. There are even some tropical penguins in the Galapagos islands near the equator. There are 17 species of penguins in Antarctica, some are very small, while others are almost as tall as people. Penguins have no land predators in Antarctica, so naturally they are not afraid of humans. I was sitting down next to the shore one time and some baby penguins came by and started to crawl all over me and try to eat my clothing. |
| On the left is what is called a penguin highway. The penguins travel in single file lines from their colonies to the shore making a trail in the snow. Once to the shore it's a race for the first one to jump in. |
| Above is a picture of an entire penguin colony in Antarctica. The penguin on the right with the yellow hair is called a macaroni penguin. For some reason they usually found alone hanging out with other species, as the penguins around him are called chinstrap penguins. They usually lay two eggs during breeding season. The mother and father then take turns incubating the eggs for 5 to 10 days at a time. |
| On the left is a penguin nest which is made up of small pebbles which can be pretty difficult to find in Antarctica. Sometimes other birds steal pebbles so that they can make a nest of their own. On the left are gentoo penguins, above is a chinstrap penguin with its chick. |
| Once in the water penguins can swim very fast and often dive in and out of the water. When penguins were first discovered they were actually mistaken for fish because they moved so fast in the water. When they are seen diving like in the top left photo, it is actually more of a technique than having fun, they are able to move faster and are less likely to be caught by any predators. On the top right are two gentoo penguins playing with each other. |
| Here you can see some Adelie chicks on the left and some chinstrap penguins chicks on the right. Notice how the Adelies look completely different as chicks, while the chinstraps have more in common with their parents. |
| These penguins feed like many other birds do. The chinstrap on the left is feeding it's chick by vomiting up food it has previously eaten. On the other side is an adult adelie spreading it's wings. |
| Here are some close up shots of a Macroni penguin on the left and a sleeping chinstrap on the right. |
| Antarctic Links |
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| The penguin on the left with the white stripe above his eye is called a gentoo penguin. They are the fastest of all penguins and can swim up to 24 mph. On the right is an adelie penguin which only are normally less than 10 pounds. Both of these penguins have a diet of mostly krill, fish and crustaceans. |