The longest recorded
dive for any bird is by an Emperor
Penguin - Aptenodytes forsteri – submerged
for 18 minutes.
Adaptations for long dives
While diving, theEmperor Penguin's oxygen use is
markedly reduced, as its heart rate is reduced to as low as 15-20 beats per
minute and non-essential organs are shut down, thus facilitating longer dives.
Its hemoglobin and myoglobin are able to bind and transport oxygen at low blood
concentrations; this allows the bird to function with very low oxygen levels
that would otherwise result in loss of consciousness.
The Emperor Penguin - Aptenodytes
forsteri - is the tallest and heaviest penguin and is endemic to Antarctica. They breed in the coldest environment of any
bird species. It has several unique adaptations for the harsh cold conditions,
deep dive pressure and low oxygen.
Description
The Emperor has a streamlined
body and males and females are similar in size and colouration. The adult has
deep black dorsal feathers, covering the head, chin, throat, back, dorsal part
of the flippers, and tail. The black plumage is sharply delineated from the
light-coloured plumage elsewhere. The underparts of the wings and belly are
white, becoming pale yellow in the upper breast, while the ear patches are
bright yellow. The upper mandible is black, and the lower mandible can be pink,
orange or lilac. In juveniles, the auricular patches, chin and throat are
white, while its bill is black. The Emperor Penguin chick is typically covered
with silver-grey down and has a black head and white mask.
Call
They use a complex set of calls
that are critical to individual recognition between parents, offspring, and
mates. These penguins have the widest variation in individual calls of all
penguins.
Food
Diet consists mainly of fish,
crustaceans and cephalopods. In hunting, the species can remain submerged up to
18 minutes, diving to a depth of 535 m
Breeding
The Emperor Penguin is able to
breed at around three years of age. The yearly reproductive cycle begins at the
start of the Antarctic winter, in March and April, when all mature Emperor
Penguins travel to colonial nesting areas. They start courtship in March or April,
when the temperature can be as low as −40 °C. The female lays a single
greenish-white egg, which she very carefully transfers to the male, before
immediately returning to the sea for two months to feed. The male incubates the
egg in his brood pouch, balancing it on the tops of his feet, for 64
consecutive days until hatching. Hatching may take as long as two or three
days, as the shell of the egg is thick. By the time the egg hatches, the male
will have fasted for around 115 days since arriving at the colony. To
survive the cold and winds of up to 200 km/h (120 mph), the males
huddle together, taking turns in the middle of the huddle. In the four months
of travel, courtship, and incubation, the male may lose as much as 20 kg.
The female penguin returns and takes over caring for the chick, feeding it by
regurgitating the food that she has stored in her stomach. The male then leaves
to take his turn at sea, spending around 24 days there before returning.
Between 45 to 50 days after hatching, the chicks form a creche, huddling
together for warmth and protection. During this time, both parents forage at
sea and return periodically to feed their chicks.
Conservation Status – Least concern
The Emperor Penguin is listed as
a species of "least concern" by the IUCN. It is currently under
consideration for inclusion under the US Endangered Species Act. The primary
reasons for this are declining food availability due to the effects of climate
change and industrial fisheries on the crustacean and fish populations.
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