The world's top 10 penguin species, see how much you know

Penguins, known as the "Ship of the Ocean", are members of the swimming bird family with a long history. The penguins, dressed in formal attire like Western gentlemen, with their swaying gait and honest expressions, make them a beautiful sight in the ocean world, and it is hard to put it down. You must be curious about the types of penguins, right? This article selects ten famous penguin species around the world for introduction. There are 18 species of penguins worldwide, most of which live in the Southern Hemisphere. The famous ones are: Emperor Penguin, Adélie Penguin, Humboldt Penguin, Yellow-eyed Penguin, Chinstrap Penguin, African Penguin, King Penguin, Lesser Penguin Blue penguins, Macroni penguins, Galapagos penguins, etc. Let's walk into the world of penguins and explore their wonderful lives.

1. Emperor Penguin

Emperor penguins, known as members of the royal family, stand at the crown of the penguins and are the largest of all penguins, comparable to giants in the penguin world. They usually stand over 90cm tall, with the tallest reaching the 120cm mark and weighing up to 50kg. The emperor penguin wears a distinctive black and white costume. Its beak is a bright reddish orange, and the lower part of its neck is decorated with orange-yellow feathers. The feather color gradually becomes softer downwards, and appears darker behind the ears. Its overall color The color combination is harmonious. Emperor penguins are loyal representatives of only one partner for life and practice strict monogamy. Their lifespan is usually about 10 years, although some individuals can live as long as 20 years.

2. Adélie Penguin

The Adélie penguin, named after the name of the Antarctic continent, is a small to medium-sized group of penguins and is also a frequent visitor to the Antarctic region. Adélie penguins are between 46 and 75 centimeters in length and weigh between 4 and 6 kilograms. Their eye rings are bright white, their heads show a unique blue-green tone, their beaks are black, and the corners of their mouths are decorated with slender lines. Feathers, short legs and black claws. Although these penguins cannot fly, they are expert swimmers and divers, with a hint of playfulness in their swaying steps. They can use their abdomen to glide on the ice, and their staple food includes various types of fish, molluscs and crustaceans.

3. Humboldt Penguin

The Humboldt penguin, named after Alexander von Humboldt, the German polymath who introduced it to Western academia, is a unique species of penguin found along the coast of South America. Its forelimbs evolved into flipper-like feet, designed to paddle underwater. The structure of this penguin's feathers is similar to scales. The rachis is broad and short, and the pinnae are narrow and compact, evenly distributed over its body. The bones are characterized by being stable rather than inflated. The sternum exhibits a prominent keel-like structure with a large amount of fatty marrow inside. Their tail feathers are short, and their feet are compact and set back, with webs between their toes suitable for swimming. The horny part of its upper beak is composed of three horny pieces. The surface of the tongue is covered with spike-like tips, allowing them to effectively capture food such as crustaceans, squid, and fish. Humboldt penguins are a vulnerable species, with a wild population estimated at between 3,300 and 12,000. They breed mainly along the coastlines of Peru and Chile.

4. Yellow-eyed Penguin

The yellow-eyed penguin, as a member of the genus Yellow-eyed Penguin in the family Penguinidae, is a coastal species unique to New Zealand. Its habitat is found throughout New Zealand's South Island, Stewart Island, Auckland Islands and Campbell Island. The habitat of yellow-eyed penguins, which feed on fish, is particularly famous on the Otago Peninsula, attracting a large number of tourists to come and see them up close. As an endangered species, the number of yellow-eyed penguins is estimated to be only about 4,000. Among penguins, yellow-eyed penguins are larger, with an average length of up to 70 centimeters and a weight between 5 and 8 kilograms. The top of its head is filled with soft light yellow, its eyes are even more light yellow, and its body is covered with elegant black feathers.

5. Chinstrap Penguin

The chinstrap penguin, which has a distinctive black neck pattern in the style of a navy officer's chinstrap, is famous for its eye-catching black strip below its neck. This strip gives them a heroic and firm appearance, so they are affectionately known by the Soviets. Nicknamed "Police Officer Penguin". Chinstrap penguins are distributed in the southern end of the world, including the South Sandwich Islands, Antarctica, South Orkney Islands, South Shetland Islands, South Georgia, Bouvet Island, Balleny Islands and Peter I Island. The characteristic black stripes on their heads look like they are wearing a military helmet, so this penguin is also called the chinstrap penguin. This feature also makes them one of the most easily identifiable penguin species. Chinstrap penguins can reach 72 centimeters in length, and the average adult weight is about 4 kilograms. According to statistics, the number of breeding pairs of chinstrap penguins in the world reaches an astonishing 7.5 million. Their staple diet includes krill, various types of shrimp and fish.

6. African Penguin

African penguins, named "spot-billed ringed penguins" by the scientific community, are also well-known aliases including black-footed penguins and jackass penguins. They belong to the order Penguin, family Penguinidae, and genus Ringed Penguin in the class Birds. This kind of penguin is endemic to the southwest coast of Africa. It can be found on 24 islands from Namibia to Algoa Bay near Port Elizabeth, South Africa. African penguins stand between 68 and 70 centimeters tall and weigh between 2 and 5 kilograms. The feathers on their backs are black, while their chest and abdomen are mainly white, dotted with sporadic black spots and lines. It is worth mentioning that the black spots on each spotted-billed ringed penguin are unique, just like human fingerprints, giving them each their own personality.

7. King Penguin

The king penguin is a tall penguin, usually close to 1 meter in length and weighing about 15 to 16 kilograms. The most striking feature of this penguin is the bright orange patch on the side of its neck. Its forelimbs evolved to form flippers suitable for paddling. The feather structure of king penguins is similar to scales. The rachis is short and wide, and the feathers are narrow and closely arranged. Such feathers cover the entire body. Their skeletons are strong and not inflated, and the bones in their chests protrude into an obvious keel-like structure, which stores fatty marrow. King penguins have relatively short tail feathers, compact and backward-moving paws, and webbed toes to aid swimming. Their upper beaks are made of 3 to 5 horny segments. The surface of its tongue is covered with spikes that resemble nails, allowing the king penguin to effectively hunt crustaceans, squid and various fish.

8. Little Blue Penguin

Blue penguins, also known as little blue penguins, are considered to be the most inconspicuous members of the penguin world. They are generally only 43 centimeters tall and weigh about 1 kilogram. The males are slightly better than the females in size. This kind of penguin wears a unique blue feather coat, and it is precisely because of this sky blue coat that they are named little blue penguins. The head and back display a deep indigo color with a bluish-gray tint near the ears, while the belly is pure white. The outsides of their flippers are also indigo, while the insides are pure white. The dark gray-black beak is 3 to 4 centimeters long. The feet are white and the soles and webs are black. This penguin inhabits the coastlines of South Australia, New Zealand and Chile and swims in a wide range of areas, feeding on fish, squid and other small marine creatures. According to data from 2015, the global population of little blue penguins remains at approximately one million.

9. Macroni Penguin

Reaching about 70 centimeters in length and weighing about 5.5 kilograms, the most striking feature of Macaroni penguins is the orange decorative feathers on their heads. These feathers extend from between the eyes to the sides and are often compared to spaghetti. . Therefore, Macaroni penguins have another nickname - "macaroni penguins". In English, the word "Macroni" also has the interesting meaning of "playful person". The pink feather circles at the corners of her mouth add a touch of color. Like all penguins, Macaroni penguins are unable to fly, but they are expert divers. The appearance is similar to that of the crested penguin, making it easy for people to mistake it. Whenever the Antarctic summer arrives, groups of Macroni penguins flock to the Antarctic waters to mate and breed on the rocky islands dotted around them. They primarily feed on krill, but also catch squid and smaller fish. This penguin population can be found from South Africa to the west coast of South America and along the Antarctic coastline.

10. Galapagos Penguins

Galapagos penguins, also known as Galapagos penguins or Colon penguins, are species of birds, order Penguinidae, and are uniquely distributed in the Colon Islands in South America. Known as the equatorial penguin, this species is special in that it is the only penguin that lives near the equator. Thanks to the dual effects of the Peruvian Cold Current and the Cromwell Current, the Colon Islands have climate conditions that are completely different from other areas on the equator, making it possible for penguins to survive. Galapagos penguins are one of the smallest known penguins, and they are the only penguin species that migrates to the northern hemisphere. The current estimated inventory is approximately 1,000.

In addition to the above ten major penguins, there are gentoo penguins, southern rockhopper penguins, northern rockhopper penguins, yellow-browed penguins, Sri Lanka yellow-browed penguins, white-cheeked yellow-browed penguins, crested penguins, and Magellanic penguins.

animal tags： Penguin