Hello and welcome to the Gentoo Penguin Page.
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Gentoo Penguins hollow out a nest in the ground and line it with grass. Two eggs are laid in September or October, and incubation usually takes about 35 to 39 days from the laying of the last egg. The Second egg is smaller than the first and is laid three days later. Then the male penguin and female penguin take turns keeping the egg warm against their brood patch (Featherless area on a Penguins belly). After they are three-quarters grown, the young are able to look after themselves and leave there nests to form large crèches (group like huddles of chicks). Food for the chicks comes straight from a parent's mouth. The adults return with undigested food stored in their crop (A special pouch in the Parents mouth). A chick fits it's bill inside the adult's mouth to receive the food. The parents then regurgitate the food for the chick to eat. Imagine looking for your parents among millions of others! In the Penguin world, chicks and parents recognize each other's calls and always find one another. Even while the chick is coming out of it's egg, it is calling so it's parent will get to know its voice. | ||
| Penguins are flightless birds who usually live in groups that are called rookeries. Penguins walk on earth with a very erect posture. Ashore, they are often awkward, waddling and hopping over rocks. On snow, they sometimes push themselves along on their stomachs. A white band that goes from eye to eye is the mark of the Gentoo Penguin. The Gentoo Penguin, averaging 75-90 cm (35 1/2-37 1/2) tall and weighing 5-5.5 kg (11-12 pounds) is the largest of the Pygoscelis Genus. The Gentoo Penguins scientific name is Pygoscelis Papua (As above). The Gentoo Penguin lives mostly on the South Orkney Islands and the shore of the Antarctic Peninsula. The Gentoo Penguins breed mainly on the Antarctic Peninsula and sub Antarctic Islands. The Gentoo Penguins appetite consists on Fish, Squid and Krill a shrimp-like crustacean that is a key species in the Antarctic ecosystem. |
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Penguins are very efficient swimmers that spend up to 75% of there life at sea. Although they are comfortable at 8 kmph (5 mph), some can travel at 32 kmph (20 mph) in short bursts. When traveling fast penguins "porpoise,' or leap clear of the water, every few feet. This enables them to breath and decreases their chances of being caught by a predator. Penguins unique colour is also there to keep them safe. If there is an animal above in the sky looking down it will see the penguins black back and will think it is the deep dark ocean. If there is an animal in the water and it is looking toward the sky it will think that the penguins white belly is the bright sky above. Gentoos are thought to fish closer to the surface than other species of penguins, although they can dive to at least 100 meters (330 feet). Gentoo penguins have developed the ability to leap out of the water to a very substantial height, enabling them to reach raised ice edges or rock ledges. | ||
| Penguins are prey to many different predators, especially to the leopard seals. Who can eat up to 10 Gentoo Penguins in one day. The seals hide below the ice and wait for the penguins to jump into the sea. Penguins will jump over cracks in the ice to avoid leopard seals. They will also push one Penguin off to see if it is safe. Sheathbills are Pigeon like birds that live in Antarctic that attack when Parents feed there chicks. The sheathbill alarms a Penguin causing the food to fall to the ground. Then the sheathbill flies down takes the food and flies back home and feeds his young. The sheathbill also takes abandoned eggs and steals them too. In the Antarctic, skuas swoop down and eat the little baby chicks. To avoid adult Penguins, who could defend the chicks, the skuas may push or roll the baby chick away from the rookery where the skuas more easily attack the baby chick. A Killer Whale, Grey Seal and Shark are a Gentoo Penguins enemy but not main ones. |
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