Tag archives for Penguins
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How good are Adelie penguins at fishing? Amazingly good, according to new footage taken with cameras mounted to the backs of 14 penguins. The penguins never missed their prey on their recorded dives. The Japanese researchers who worked on the study found that the penguins could catch two krill per second, and could catch as many as 14 fish every 20 seconds.
Watch a video of Adelie penguins fishing on National Geographic Kids.
Andrew Evans, National Geographic’s Digital Nomad, recently spent some time penguin-watching on South Georgia Island, which is east of Argentina’s Terra del Fuego and north of Antarctica. Andrew watched the activities of a colony of king penguins. Read Andrew’s blog post on Digital Nomad.
Get the facts on emperor penguins on National Geographic Kids.
Photograph by Andrew Evans, National Geographic Traveler
When you speed up video of emperor penguins huddling together in Antarctica, you see them do the wave! The penguins snuggle up together to keep warm and as new penguins join the group they take small steps, creating the wave effect. Researchers say that this helps the penguins get equal chance at time in the middle of the huddle.
Watch a video of penguins doing the wave!
Scientists have uncovered the fossils of prehistoric penguins in Peru. Evidence from the fossils suggests that these giant penguins, called water king penguins (Inkayacu paracasensis), had reddish-brown colors on the underside of their wings. But that’s not the only unusual thing about this ancient bird–it was also about 5 feet (1.5 meters) tall!
Learn more about the giant water king penguin on National Geographic News.
Get the facts on emperor penguins, the world’s largest living penguins.
Illustration courtesy Katie Browne, U.T. Austin
While on his Bus2Antarctica expedition, Andrew Evans spotted something unusual–a black king penguin. The penguin is all black because of melanism. Melanism is an overproduction of melanin, which turns feathers (or skin or fur) dark. Many animal species exhibit melanism, but it’s very rare for penguins–and even rarer to see a penguin exhibiting dark pigment all over its body.
Read more about the black penguin on National Geographic’s Intelligent Travel blog.
Find out more about Andrew Evans’ Bus2Antarctica expedition on National Geographic.
Get the facts on emperor penguins and Adélie penguins.
Photograph courtesy Andrew Evans
