King Penguin

King Penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) roam all sub-antarctic oceans, but they become highly gregarious for the breeding season when they gather e.g. at the Falkland Islands. Here they are, as actually most of the penguin species, not within snow and ice as it is erroneously often assumed to be typical for penguins. The King Penguin can be recognized by its beautiful colors. In contrast to the Emperor Penguin the auricular patches of the King Penguin are completely orange and the upper breast is colored, too. Both genders look the same but the females are slightly smaller than the males. The single egg of the mostly monogamous birds is balanced on the feet by the breeding parent. King penguins do not build a nest as smaller penguin species do. After the incubation time of 53 to 55 days the parents care for another unusually long period of 10 to 13 months for their offspring, so that a successful couple has to skip the following breeding season. The only chick is rather practically than beautifully dressed, but as an adult it will be splendid and truly royal.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011 at 11:35 am. It is filed under Awards. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.