King+Penguin

//__Aptenodytes patagonicus__//


The King Penguin is the second largest species of penguin at about 11 to 16 kg, second only to the Emperor Penguin. King Penguins eat small fish, mainly lanternfish, and squid and rely less than most Southern Ocean predators on krill and other crustances. On foraging trips they repeatedly dive to over 100 metres, often over 200 metres.King Penguins breed on the subantarctic islands at the northern reaches of Antarctica, South Georgia, and other temperate islands of the region. The total population is estimated to be 2.23 million pairs and is increasing.One of the more colourful penguins, the king penguin has a striking, spoon-shaped patch of orange-gold on either side of the neck that fades into a paler orange upper chest. The rest of the head, the wings and the tail are black, while the back is bluish-grey with a silvery shimmer, and the belly is white. The downy, brown chicks are so different in appearance to the adult king penguins that early explorers described them as an entirely different species, the ‘woolly penguin’.
 * **Domain** || Eukaria ||
 * **Kingdom** || Animalia ||
 * **Phylum** || Chordata ||
 * **Class** || Aves ||
 * **Order** || Sphenisciformes ||
 * **Family** || Speniscidae ||
 * **Genus** || Aptenodytes ||
 * **Species** || Aptenodytes Patagonicus ||

Habitat
King penguins are found on island groups in the sub-Antartic region, incuding isnlands south of Austrailia, Tasmania, New Zealand, and South Africa. The limit of the breeding range is around 45 degrees south latitude to the Antarcitc Convergence. //Aptenodytes patagonicus//do not migrate, instead individuals travel hundreds of kilometers away from breeding grounds to find food. King Penguins breed on subantarctic islands between 45 and 55°S, at the northern reaches of Antarctica, as well as Tierra del Fuego, the Falkland Islands, and other temperate islands of the region. The total population is estimated to be 2.23 million pairs and is increasing. The largest breeding populations are on Crozet Island, with around 455,000 pairs, 228,000 pairs on the Prince Edward Islands, 240,000–280,000 on the Kerguelen Islands and over 100,000 on the South Georgia Islands. Macquarie Island has around 70,000 pairs. The non-breeding range is poorly known though presumably the subantarctic waters of the southern Indian, South Atlantic and Asian part of the Southern Ocean. Vagrant birds have been recorded from the Antarctic peninsula as well as South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. The breeding areas of King Penguins are restricted to sub-Antarctic islands where the temperatures rarely exceed 10°C. In winter, the adults probably travel south towards the Antarctic pack-ice. Their breeding colonies can usually rocky ground but there can be ice or snow, too. Four abiotic factors in an ecosystem are snow, ice, water, and also temperature. The termperature plays a huge part in the penguins lives because they are made to be meant to live in the cold. Their furs are thick & is made to keep them warm. If they were to live in a human place, they would die because of the hot weather, including their skin? They couldn't take it, that is why the abiotic factors for the penguins is what it is. But the four biotic factos in a penguins ecosystem is bacteria, fish, krill, and the leopard seals. These animals are meant for the penguins to interact with is because they are the same thing. They may be different animals but they are all the same, they need the same things in order to survive. Without Alaska, animals wouldn't have anywhere to live to be at the right temperature. The penguins have in common with these animals is the abiotic factor. Some penguin species spend as much as 75% of their lives in the sea. They may spend several months at a time at sea, only coming ashore for breeding and molting. The fiordland crested penguins occasionally grown barnacles on their tails. An indication that they are at se a for long periods. Swimming speed generally are not well known. Earlier estimated of swimming speeds were taken from obersavation of penguins swimming alongside moving ships, a method that proved to be runreliable. The fastest swimmers belong to the genus //Aptenodytes//. Emperors have been observed swimming 14.4 kph, though they normally do not exceed 10.8 kph. Both kings and chinstraps have been recorded at 8.6 kph. A penguin hunches its head into its shoulders to paintain its treamlined shape and reduce drag wile swimming. Its keeps its feet pressed close to the body against the tail to aid in steering. Penguin wings are paddle like flippers used for swimming. The motion of the flippers resembles the wing movements of flying birds, giving penguins the appearance of flying through water. The wing and breast muscles are well developed, the propel penguins through water. Having solid, dense bones helps penguins overcome buoyancy. Although it is more energy efficient for penguins to swim under water than at the water's surface, they must come to the surface to breathe. Many species of penguins porpoise - leap in and out of the water. Most prey of penguins inhabit the upper water layers, so penguins generally do not dive to great depths or for long periods. Studies using radio tracking and automatic depth recorders reveal that emperor penguins sometimes hunt at great depths. Under experimental diving conditions, penguins exhibit reduced peripheral blood flow. During deep dives, the penguin heart rate slows. When swimming, penguins inhale and exhale rapidly at the surface. Just before a dive, penguins inhale and then dive on a breath of air.

Species Interactions
King Penguins eat small fish, mainly lanternfish, and squid and rely less than most Southern Ocean predators on krill and other crustaceans. Since the king penguin is a coastal bird and only breeds on land, it is part of the marine or aquatic food chain. At the base of this food chain are phytoplankton and diatoms, tiny creatures whose photosynthesis creates the basis for all marine food chains (with a couple of exceptions). The phytoplankton are consumed by krill who are, in turn, consumed by the squid and fish on which the king penguins feed. The krill also provide food for the large humpbacked whale that resides in the antartic seas although further to the north. The king penguin's main predators are the leopard seal and occasionally the killer whale who, incidentally, also feeds on the leopard seal. Due to its large size, the penguin is not the prey of smaller creatures, however, their young are especially vulnerable during the first few weeks at sea. Just like every other animal on the planet the king interacts with its environment. The king occupies a place in a food chain and is part of the Antarctic food web. The king has to eat to live and is in turn eaten by predators looking for a large meal. The king penguin adapts from their camoutflaged so that predators looks up from below, such as a seal beneath the ice, they can't tell the difference between the belly of the penguin and the surrounding ice, snor or water. Their black plumage disguises them from predators above them in the water as it looks like the depths of the ocean. Their wings have become like flippers, allowing them to move at incredible spreeds through the water. Teir featers can trap air bubbles to make them buoyant and stop them from sinking too low unwillingly. King Penguins can dive for 22 mnutes at depths of up to 565m when hunting, making them the speices of Penguin that can dive the deepest and for the longest time. They can use their wings and tails as balance when upright so they can look for predators. King Penguins have the largest body mass of all penguins, which reduces surface area and, therefore, heat loss in the arctic conditions. They have webbed feet which spreads their weight out on the snow and acts like snow shoes, stopping them from sinking beneath the snow.

Reproductions
Female king penguins lays a single egg, which is then incumbated by the male in a special pouch on top of the feet. Incubation lasts 62-67 days during which time the male fasts and the female returns to the sea to forage. It is this period when males and their eggs can be found fighting the harsh winter conditions and incubation their eggs in huddles. Because of their icy habitat, this species does not build a nest. When the chicks hatch they are covered in down ad have a black head with two white spots near the eyes. If they hatch before the female returns to feed them, the males will regurgitate an esophageal secrtion occasionally referred to as a penguin milk. When the female returns to the breeding site, the male then returns to the sea to forage for several weeks. They lose up to 50% of their total body weight during the incubation period. Chicks are fed regurgitated fish by the females during the males absence, then by both parents until they are ready to leave the breeding site at about 4 months. The mating strategy for a king penguin is for the partner to fidelity for one season only. Perhaps the reason for this is that finding a partner in the tempestuous cold of the Antartic autumn is too difficult for being choosy. It is not the same for penguins to find a mate like humans. All penguins look the same, there is not beauty in all of them. But the only way that penguins finds a mate to reproduce with is during a season. That is the only way for a penguin to find their mate, it all depends on the season during the year. Other than that, they will be single. For a penguin parent to be a good one is that they follow the strategy of raising a chick. They need to go through a whole cycle of laying the egg, incubating, keeping it warm, then letting go. The whole process is that the female lays the egg anytime from November to April and incubated on the feet. Both parents as open water is always close by. It can take 10 to 13 montsh to fledge a chick. Because of this long chick- rearing period, king penguins only produce two chicks every three years. When six weeks old, the chick joins a creche whilst its parents go fishing. In a king penguin colony there may be 12 month old chicks around whilst other birds are incubating eggs.

History
The King Penguin is the second largest penguin in the world. It stands about 70 cm tall and weights between 9 and 15 kilogram. King Penguins are often confused with Eperor Penguins because they have similar colouration. Like most penguins, they have white bellies, silver-grey backs and blackish heads. King Penguins are distinguished from other penguins by the vibrant orange of their upper breast area and an orange tear shaped patch over each ear. Males and females are almost identical in appearance. Close observation of their behaviors is the best way to tell the difference between them. Chicks are covered with dark brown, downy feathers. Their appearcance is so different from that of the adults that they were once thought to be a different species: the "woolly penguin". Most penguins can hop when on land, but King Penguins can only walk or run. Also, their feet have a unique function: adult penguins use their feet instead of a nest. The female lays one egg per breeding season. The parents take turns keeping the egg on their feet, tucked under a fold of warm, featherey skin on their lower abdomen. It takes about eight weeks for the egg to hatch. Young King Penguins stay with their parents for about 13 months. King Penguins are strong swimmers and skilled fishers who use their wings as flippers. They can dive as deep as 300 m and swim as fast as 10 km/h. They can see well in darkness because they have specially adapted eyesight. In daylight, their pupils shrink to the size of a pinhole. When light is low, such as deep under water, their pupils expand greatly. This amazing vision lets them catch up to 2000 fish per day. King Penguins live close to Antarctica on the Falkland Islands, the Macquarie Islands, the Illes Crozet, Heard Island and Marion Island. They gather in groups, and prefer beaches or flat, rocky areas that are free of snow and ice. One coony can include as many as 600,000 birds. Even though the colony is enormouse, each family of Kings has its own space, which the adults protect by slapping or pecking any ohter penguin that gets too close.