King penguin inhabits oceanicpeninsulas and islands. Their population is settled in the borders between Tierra de Fuego, Fr. Crozet, the Falkland Islands, as well as areas southwest of New Zealand and southeast of Australia. Penguins breed in Antarctica in the northern territories. Animals feed on ice-free, clear water, on the shelf, and also along the rocky coast. Juveniles are removed at a distance of hundreds of kilometers from the nearest colony, they are found in the open ocean. The population has more than a million pairs.
There are different types of penguins. Among all, there are only two of the largest. These include the emperor and royal penguin. The second is slightly smaller.
King penguin body length - from 94centimeters to 1.36 meters. Its weight can reach sixteen pounds. King penguin has a bright color, quite a long beak. It feeds on small aquatic animals, which are quite a few off the coast of the islands, as well as plankton. Some individuals eat crustaceans, others prefer fish.
Penguins hunt in groups.At the same time, adults teach youngsters hunting techniques and skills. The king penguin finds prey at a depth of ten to twenty meters from the ocean surface. Animals can spend at a depth of up to forty minutes. They feed every other week. In between feeding the penguins lose weight by half. Animals drink both fresh and salt water. If there is no water, they eat snow.
Penguins are considered "public" birds.They live and multiply in colonies. Animals swim beautifully and spend much of their life in water. At the same time, they are able to travel over land sufficiently large distances. On occasion, the penguins try to slide on the belly over the snow. The body temperature of animals in the water quickly decreases, so they become very active in order not to freeze. There are king penguins most often in areas with a moderately cold climate. At the same time, they can be seen in mountainous, snowy or even icy areas. They live in such places, provided that there is enough food nearby.
Reaching puberty, penguins often become aggressive and quarrel. As a rule, disputes arise because of the territory that the couple chooses for breeding.
Before mating, the male, making trumpet sounds, takes threatening poses. Thus, he scares rivals.
Reproduction is carried out in the summer.Egg laying starts in December-January. King penguins do not build nests. The female lays only one egg large enough. During the incubation, the female and the male are nearby and sing "songs". For the same "song" they find each other, if they suddenly had to part. Hatching duration is fifty-four days. Penguins have two chicks every three years. In the first year, the young are next to their mother. In summer, the first egg is laid, the next year, by the end of summer, the second one. In the third year, egg laying does not occur. Early chicks to the beginning of autumn reach the size of adults. Of those eggs that were laid in a later period, often the chicks do not have time to hatch - they die with the arrival of frost. Such parents (whose children died) begin hormonal changes. As a result, they begin breeding in November. As a rule, in this case, the offspring grows without loss.
King penguins are hunted for feathers, fat and eggs. It should be noted that in the 1960s, the populations of these animals were actively exterminated by hunters. Today fishing is prohibited.
