Why penguins don't freeze in Antarctica. Why don't penguins' paws freeze on ice? Giant penguins weighing eighty kilograms lived in New Zealand forty million years ago.

It is believed that penguins are very frost-resistant, and low temperatures are an indispensable condition for their habitat. In fact, among these birds there are also heat-loving varieties. For example, Galapagos penguins living on the islands of the same name. The year-round temperature there does not fall below +18 degrees.

Gentoo penguins are considered to be the kind of record holders in the world of penguins. When swimming, they reach a speed of 36 km/h.

Penguins do not like to walk on loose snow, as they fall into it. To move comfortably during warmer weather, they lie on their stomachs and glide, using their wings and paws to push off.

If you adapt the famous quote by Maxim Gorky to penguins, you will get “those born to swim cannot fly.” These birds are amazing swimmers, but the open air is inaccessible to them.

Penguins are also great dives. And if the bird is really hungry, and there is nothing edible on the surface of the ocean, it is able to get food at a depth of up to 200 m. However, only one species of bird can reach such a depth - king penguins.

Penguins are the only birds that can not only stand upright, but also walk in this position.

Rock penguins received this nickname because they love not only to go into the water, but to jump into it from rocks.

Emperor penguins are true giants among their fellows. Their weight exceeds 27 kilos, and their height is over a meter.

Penguin chicks are born completely naked. Their “clothing” of feathers takes several weeks to form. The baby sometimes has to wait more than a year for the most important feathers – waterproof ones – to appear. Until they grow, the bird lives with its parents, even if it has almost reached the size of a large individual. These feathers, as well as a layer of subcutaneous fat, help penguins accumulate heat and withstand frost.

Penguins' ability to walk vertically is due to the fact that their short and thick legs are not located directly at the center of gravity, but slightly behind. That's why they walk so straight, awkwardly swaying from one foot to the other.

Patagonian penguins are considered the most resilient swimmers among penguins. Having reached the goal, such a penguin can spend about three weeks on the road and cover one and a half thousand kilometers during this time.

Not all penguins are good-natured and meek. For example, stone ones have a rather bad character. They are noisy and often rush to attack an object they find unpleasant.

The penguin couple lives according to the laws of “matriarchy”. After laying the eggs, the female leaves them to her caring father, and she goes off to “earn a living”: she gets food for her partner and the cubs. When babies are born, the father even has something like milk in his esophagus, which he feeds to the offspring, regurgitating this mass.

Once a year, penguins shed their old plumage and grow new ones. This process takes up to three weeks.

One of the varieties of penguins - Magellanic - is named after Ferdinand Magellan. In 1520, near the island of Tierra del Fuego, a traveler was the first to discover these animals.

Penguins do not require fresh water to quench their thirst. Their bodies contain glands that can remove salt from sea water. Salt impurities are released through grooves in the beak, and the bird, having desalinated the water in this way, completely quenches its thirst.

The largest of the penguins, the emperor, walks on snow all its life and rests in the snow, and when it decides to swim, it swims in water at sub-zero temperatures.

Obviously, the thick feather cover serves as reliable protection from frost. But penguins have bare feet. Aren't they cold standing? For example, some especially heat-loving people, even in Thailand, will wet their feet in the sea at plus twenty degrees - and run away screaming...

Penguin paws are an amazing creation of nature. Compared to the paws of other birds, they are strongly shifted back, and therefore the penguin’s gait is quite human. This is, so to speak, an upright bird. However, the penguin needs a non-standard arrangement of paws mainly in order to swim better. Among marine life, the penguin is one of the fastest swimmers, second only to the dolphin in speed. In the water, its paws serve as its rudder and brake.

When the chicks emerge, mother and father take turns diving into the ocean and bringing them food. Encyclopedia Britannica estimates that the cooling potential of the water they are immersed in is equivalent to exposure to minus 20 degrees Celsius with wind speeds of 110 km/h. Antarctica is not the coast of Thailand! Let's take into account that a penguin usually cuts through water at a speed of 16-32 km/h. Not the warmest conditions. But the penguin's skin is protected by a layer of air under the feathers, and only the paws come into direct contact with the water. After the penguin has acquired food, it returns to the family, sits on the baby to protect it from the cold, and sees off its wife, who goes for the next portion of grub. Consequently, he stepped from the icy water onto the snow. Maybe the penguin has ice instead of paws? It looks like it. Penguins' paws actually cool down to a very low temperature - scientists measured it. If penguin feet were warmer, the birds would lose too much heat through their surface.

This low temperature is ensured by the unique circulatory system that penguins are endowed with. Warm blood flows to the toes through the arteries and immediately, having cooled, flows back through the veins, which run parallel to the arteries, side by side with them.

In short, heat exchange occurs between two opposing blood streams. As a result, a state of balance is achieved: the paws are cool enough not to waste heat, but the blood supply is normal, protecting the body from frostbite and tissue damage. The penguin's feet consist mainly of highly branched tendons. They have almost no muscle tissue, and it is the muscles that cause pain when they freeze.

However, there is another explanation. The penguin is a proud bird: it would rather die than complain about life.

Penguin Day is a holiday celebrated around the world on April 25th. It is dedicated to the conservation of these unique flightless birds, most of which live only in Antarctica and off the coast of the Southern Ocean.

Global climate change and growing interest in the use of Antarctic marine biological resources could lead to negative consequences for penguins and other inhabitants of the fragile ecosystem of this region.

Where do penguins live?

Penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere: off the coast of Antarctica, New Zealand, southern Australia, South Africa, and along the entire coast of South America from the Falkland Islands to Peru.

Penguins prefer cool weather, so in tropical latitudes they appear only with cold currents - the Humboldt Current on the west coast of South America or the Benguela Current, which arises at the Cape of Good Hope and washes the west coast of South Africa.

The warmest habitat for penguins is the Galapagos Islands, located near the equator.

The average annual temperature in the South Pole region is only 49.3 °C, and the record low is -89 °C. Wind speed sometimes reaches 100 m/s.

Penguins have a thick layer of fat and water-repellent feathers to keep them warm. This “suit” is reliably protected from getting wet. In addition, the air between the feathers allows you to retain heat both in water and on land.

During molting, penguins shed a large number of feathers and during this time they are not able to swim in the water. They remain without food until new feathers grow.

A special mechanism of blood circulation saves penguins' paws from freezing: hot arterial blood in the paws gives off its heat to the oncoming flow of venous blood and thus cools. This effect is achieved due to the unusually close mutual position of arteries and veins and is called the principle of reverse outflow.

The temperature of the Chinstrap penguin's feet is usually around 4 °C, which not only helps to retain heat, but also allows them to move freely on the ice. But warm paws would probably melt the ice and freeze into it.

Emperor penguins gather in tight groups to keep warm. The temperature inside the group can reach +35 °C at an ambient temperature of -20 °C. To ensure that everyone is on an equal footing, the penguins constantly move from the center to the edge and back.

Penguins swim but don't fly

The penguin's body is ideally built for swimming due to its shape, small wings resembling fins, and webbed feet.

Some species of penguins can also dive to depths of up to 200 meters.

How do penguins walk?

Of all modern birds, only penguins move while standing. Penguins can stand upright because their webbed feet are located at the very end of their bodies.

The method of movement of penguins on loose snow is considered peculiar. To avoid falling through when walking, penguins lie on their stomachs and, pushing off the snow with their wings and paws, glide along it at speeds of up to 25 km/h.

The largest penguins are emperors

The largest subspecies of penguin is the emperor penguin. Average individuals of this subspecies reach a height of about 114 centimeters and weigh 41 kilograms. The smallest subspecies is the little penguin, which is only 25 centimeters in height and weighs about 1.1 kilograms.

Penguins are represented by many species and are quite common on the planet. Their characteristic gait makes them funny creatures that appeal to both children and adults. There are several fascinating facts associated with this interesting family.

Penguins lost the ability to fly sixty-two million years ago

Initially, these birds could fly, but over time they began to swim more actively and, as a result, lost the ability to rise into the air. The most amazing thing is how long ago penguins began to strive for life in the water. The oldest species discovered during excavations lived sixty million years ago. And by that time they could not fly, although they were not as well adapted to life in water as modern ones. Scientists believe that ancient penguins moved along the surface of the water.

Giant penguins weighing eighty kilograms lived in New Zealand forty million years ago.

When we look at historical facts about penguins, we can learn amazing details about their ancestors. At the moment, the largest are emperor penguins. They are more than a meter tall and weigh forty-five kilograms. In New Zealand, traces of ancient penguins that lived here forty million years ago were found - they were taller than one and a half meters and weighed about eighty kilograms! Scientists were unable to determine whether it was a specific species or whether such sizes were the result of natural factors, because here the birds had no natural enemies and there was an incredible amount of food. Over time, whales began to appear here, which became a danger to penguins - as a result, they became extinct twenty-five million years ago.

Penguins are predators

The harmless appearance of the animal, as if dressed in a tailcoat, attracts children and adults, which is why penguins are real favorites of zoo visitors. But not all people who are touched by a cute creature that comically minces with its small paws know that they are dangerous predators that feed exclusively on meat. Penguins catch fish and other sea creatures, such as squid and octopus. This diet is caused by the location of distribution - most penguins live in Antarctica, where there are practically no plants. Moreover, they are not only predators, but also food for predators, especially in childhood - they are hunted by seals and killer whales.

Penguins can endure cold temperatures of minus seventy degrees Celsius by congregating close to each other.

Emperor penguins are able to withstand the harsh Antarctic climate through adaptation. They have a thick layer of feathers that help reduce heat loss, and penguins can control blood flow to warm certain parts of the body. Most importantly, to survive, they work in groups, huddling together in a dense crowd, huddling together and keeping each other warm. The penguins don't just stand, they constantly change places so that no one has to stand all the time at the edge, where it is coldest, and no one always remains in the center, where it is warmer.

Penguins can dive five hundred meters

The largest penguins in existence today, emperor penguins, are capable of things that are inaccessible to others precisely because of their size. For example, when diving, they are able to dive to a depth of five hundred meters. To compensate for the pressure they have to withstand, their bodies have certain features. For example, they have dense bones - in other birds they are filled with air. This helps minimize barotrauma. During a dive, the pulse is reduced as much as possible to save oxygen, and the emperor penguin's blood has a special composition that allows the body to function longer without breathing.

Penguins can drink salt water

The digestive system of these birds is ideally adapted to life by the sea. Fun fact: They have a gland in their throat that filters salt from their bloodstream. This allows penguins to drink salty seawater if they are thirsty. It could kill a person!

Penguins live in colonies of two hundred thousand birds.

Emperor penguins form groups to survive, but other species prefer to live together. Golden-haired penguins love company more than others - they can live in colonies of several hundred thousand birds. As a result of this habitat, penguins have developed a unique way of communicating with other birds. They do not have a complex language, but they do have a specific vocal system with which males and females can communicate.

Emperor penguins lay only one egg during the breeding season

During the cold Antarctic months, emperor penguins begin to breed and each female can lay only one egg. This is due to the fact that protecting it from the cold is already difficult, so more eggs would simply disappear. The emperor penguin is the fifth largest bird on the planet. During incubation, males lose a quarter of their weight. However, only a fifth of all chicks survive the first year of their life.
On average, emperor penguins live up to twenty years, while scientists believe that some can live up to fifty. As a result of high juvenile mortality, the average age of 80% of penguins in the population is five years or more.

Penguins do not live in the northern hemisphere

Penguins can only be found in one hemisphere of the planet. When these birds were first discovered, they were confused with loons. These are northern birds that may be somewhat similar to penguins, but are a completely separate genus. Modern loons can fly, although they do not show brilliant results in this matter. All their common features with penguins are explained by joint development and survival in similar territories.

Penguins can swim at speeds of up to forty kilometers per hour

The penguin cannot fly, but it swims just fine. Tiny wings turn into powerful engines in the water. Usually these birds move no faster than fifteen kilometers per hour, but in case of danger due to an attack by a seal or killer whale, they can accelerate significantly - even up to forty kilometers per hour!

Probably the most amazing birds on our planet are penguins. We will present you interesting facts about these cute creatures in this article. This is the only bird that swims beautifully, but cannot fly. In addition, the penguin can walk upright. This is a flightless bird belonging to the order Penguinidae.

Habitat

Vast areas, mainly in the cold regions of the Southern Hemisphere, are where penguins live. The largest populations are recorded in Antarctica. In addition, they feel quite comfortable in South Africa and southern Australia. Almost the entire coastline of South America is the territory where penguins live.

Name

The origin of the name of these birds has three versions. The first explains it by a combination of the words pen - “head” and gwyn - “white”. It once referred to the great auk (now extinct). Since these birds are similar in appearance, the name was transferred to the penguin.

According to the second version, the penguin got its name from the English word pinwing, which translates as “hairpin wing.” According to the third version, the name of the bird comes from the Latin pinguis, which means “fat.”

Types of penguins

Do you know how many species of penguins live on our planet? By modern classification, these birds are grouped into six genera and nineteen species. We will introduce you to some of them in this article.

Emperor penguin

The largest and heaviest bird: the weight of a male can reach 40 kg, and the body length is about 130 cm. The plumage on the back is black, the belly is white, and on the neck you can see characteristic spots of bright yellow or orange. Emperor penguins are native to Antarctica.

King Penguin

Outwardly, it is very similar to the imperial one, but is somewhat inferior in size: its body length is about 100 cm, and its weight does not exceed 18 kg. In addition, this species has a different color - the back is covered with dark gray, sometimes almost black feathers, the belly is white, and there are bright orange spots on the sides of the head and on the chest. These birds live in the coastal waters of the Gulf of Lusitania, on the Tierra del Fuego, South and Sandwich islands, Kerguelen and Crozet, Macquarie and South Georgia, Prince Edward and Heard.

Adelie Penguin

Medium sized bird. Its length does not exceed 75 cm, and its weight is 6 kg. Adele's back is black, her belly is white. A distinctive feature of this species is the white ring around the eyes. These birds live in Antarctica, as well as on the adjacent islands: Orkney and South Shetland.

Northern crested penguin

A species that is currently endangered. This is a small bird, about 55 cm long and weighing 3 kg. The back and wings are gray-black. The abdomen is white. Yellow eyebrows extend into tufts of bright yellow feathers located to the side of the eyes. On the penguin's head there is a black crest, which gives the species its name.

The main part of the population inhabits the islands of Inaccessible and Gough, Tristan da Cunha, which are located in the Atlantic Ocean.

Golden haired penguin

The body length of this penguin varies within 76 cm, weight - just over 5 kg. The color is typical of all penguins, but with one peculiarity: above the eyes there are unusual tufts of golden feathers. Golden-haired penguins have settled on the southern shores of the Indian Ocean, the Atlantic, and are slightly less common in the north of Antarctica, as well as on the islands of the Sub-Antarctic.

External features

On land, this unusual bird, which cannot fly, looks somewhat awkward due to the structural features of its limbs and body. Penguins have a streamlined body shape with well-developed muscles of the pectoral keel - often it makes up a quarter of the total mass of the bird.

The penguin's body is plump, slightly laterally compressed, covered with feathers. The head is not too large, located on a flexible and mobile, but short neck. The beak of these birds is strong and sharp.

Interesting facts about penguins are related to their structure. In the course of evolution and lifestyle, the penguin's wings have changed and turned into flippers: under water, they rotate in the shoulder joint like a screw. The legs are thick and short, with four toes that are connected by swimming membranes.

Unlike most birds, the penguin's legs are noticeably shifted back, which forces the bird to hold its body strictly vertical when on land. A short tail, which consists of twenty hard feathers, helps the penguin maintain balance: the bird leans on it if necessary.

Another interesting fact about penguins is that their skeleton is not made up of hollow tubular bones, which is usually typical for birds. Their bones are more similar in structure to those of marine mammals. For thermal insulation, penguins have a substantial reserve of fat, its layer reaches three centimeters.

The plumage of penguins is thick and dense: short, small feathers cover the bird's body like tiles, protecting it from getting wet in cold water.

Lifestyle

Penguins are underwater in search of food for quite a long time, diving three meters deep and covering distances of about thirty kilometers. It's amazing how fast penguins swim - it can reach 10 km per hour. Representatives of some species can dive to depths of up to 130 meters. When penguins do not enter the mating season and do not care for their offspring, they move away from the coast to quite long distances (up to 1000 km).

To speed up movement on land, the penguin lies on its belly and quickly slides across the snow or ice, pushing off with its limbs. This method of movement allows birds to reach speeds of up to 6 km/h. Under natural conditions, a penguin lives about twenty-five years. In captivity, with proper care, this figure increases to thirty.

What do penguins eat?

During one hunt, a penguin makes from 190 to 900 dives. The exact number depends on climatic conditions, the type of penguin, and food requirements. Interestingly, the bird’s mouthparts are designed like a pump: it sucks in small prey through its beak. During feeding, on average, birds swim about thirty kilometers and spend almost eighty minutes a day at a depth of more than three meters.

The basis of the penguins' diet is fish. But what do penguins eat (besides fish)? The bird happily eats squid, small octopuses and small shellfish. The cubs feed on semi-digested food, which their parents regurgitate from the stomach.

How do penguins sleep?

The answer to this question is of interest to many of our readers. Penguins sleep standing up, maintaining their body temperature during sleep. Interesting facts about penguins are also associated with this condition of birds. The time they spend sleeping directly depends on the air temperature - the lower the temperature, the shorter the sleep. Birds sleep longer during molting: during this period they eat little, and additional sleep allows them to reduce energy expenditure. In addition, penguins sleep while hatching eggs.

It turns out that not all penguins are cute and harmless creatures. For example, rock penguins are endowed with a rather aggressive disposition. They can attack any object they don't like.

Penguins do not need fresh water - they drink sea water because they have special glands that filter out salt.

During the mating season, expressing his tender feelings, the male spectacled penguin strokes his chosen one on the head with his wing.

Penguins' feet do not get cold because they have a minimal number of nerve endings.