THE KING PENGUINS

The king penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus) is a large species of penguin, second only to the emperor penguin in size. There are two subspecies: A. p. patagonicus and A. p. halli; patagonicus is found in the South Atlantic and halli found at the Kerguelen Islands and Crozet Island, Prince Edward Islands, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, and Macquarie Island.^[2]
King penguins eat small fish, mainly lanternfish, squid and krill. On foraging trips king penguins repeatedly dive to over 100 metres (300 ft), and have been recorded at depths greater than 300 metres (1,000 ft).^[3]
King penguins breed on the subantarctic islands at the northern reaches of Antarctica, South Georgia, and other temperate islands of the region.

 

 

 

Appearance

The close-up of A. p. patagonicus subspecies in St. Andrews Bay, South Georgia, British Overseas Territories, UK

The king penguin stands at 70 to 100 cm (28 to 39 in) tall and weighs from 9.3 to 18 kg (21 to 40 lb).^[4][5][6] Males are slightly larger than females. The mean body mass of adults from Marion Island was 12.4 kg (27 lb) for 70 males and 11.1 kg (24 lb) for 71 females. Another study from Marion Island found that the mean mass of 33 adults feeding chicks was 13.1 kg (29 lb). Thus the average weight of the king penguin is similar or just slightly higher than that of the largest living flying birds.^[7][8]
At first glance, the king penguin appears very similar to the closely related emperor penguin, with a broad cheek patch contrasting with surrounding dark feathers and yellow-orange plumage at the top of the chest. However, the cheek patch of the adult king penguin is a solid bright orange whereas that of the emperor penguin is yellow and white, and the upper chest tends to be more orange and less yellowish in the king species. Both have colorful markings along the side of their lower mandible, but these tend towards pink in emperor penguin and orange in king penguin. Emperor and king penguins typically do not inhabit the same areas in the wild, with the possible exception of vagrants at sea, but the king can readily be distinguished by being noticeably sleeker, with a longer, straighter bill than the emperor. The chicks of both species are completely different from one another in appearance. Once fully molted of its heavy dark brown down, the juvenile king penguin resembles the adult but is somewhat less colorful.

King penguins often breed on the same large, circumpolar islands as at least half of all living penguins, but it is easily distinguished from co-occurring penguins by its much larger size and taller frame, distinctive markings and grizzled sooty-grayish rather than blackish back.^[4][9][10]

Distribution and habitat

Great colony of king penguins on Salisbury Plain in South Georgia

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.^[4] The largest breeding populations are on the Crozet Islands, 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 in the South Georgia archipelago. Macquarie Island has around 70,000 pairs. The non-breeding range is unknown due to many vagrant birds having been seen on the Antarctic peninsula as well as in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
King penguins appear to have suffered a massive population decline of nearly 90% on Île aux Cochons, or Pig Island in the Crozet Archipelago. Analysing new helicopter and satellite images from 2015 and 2017, the colony’s numbers have dropped to 60,000 breeding pairs.^[11] The cause of this decline may be due to changes in the ecosystem related to climate change as their primary source of food is moving farther away from places where the penguins can breed. This may result in population declines and shifts in the locations of the King penguin breeding grounds.^[12]
The Nature Protection Society released several king penguins in Gjesvær in Finnmark, and Røst in Lofoten in northern Norway in August 1936. Birds were seen in the area several times during the 1940s though none have been recorded since 1949.There were a few unconfirmed sightings of penguins in the area during the early 1950s.^[13]

Behavior

King penguin chick

American zoologist Gerry Kooyman revolutionized the study of penguin foraging behaviour in 1971 when he published his results from attaching automatic dive-recording devices to emperor penguins,^[14] and recording a dive of 235 metres (771 ft) by a king penguin in 1982.^[15] The current maximum dive recorded is 343 metres in the Falkland Islands region,^[16] and a maximum time submerged of 552 seconds recorded at the Crozet Islands.^[17] The king penguin dives to depths of 100–300 meters (350–1000 feet), spending around five minutes submerged, during daylight hours, and less than 30 metres (98 ft) at night.^[18][19]

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Sound from rookery at Lusitania Bay on Macquarie Island

The majority (around 88% in one study) of dives undertaken by king penguins are flat-bottomed; that is, the penguin dives to a certain depth and remains there for a period of time hunting (roughly 50% of total dive time) before returning to the surface. They have been described as U-shaped or W-shaped, relating to the course of the dive. The remaining 12% of dives have a V-shaped or "spike" pattern, in which the bird dives at an angle through the water column, reaches a certain depth, and then returns to the surface. In contrast, other penguins dive in this latter foraging pattern.^[18][20] Observations at Crozet Islands revealed most king penguins were seen within 30 km (19 mi) of the colony.^[21] Using the average swimming speed, Kooyman estimated the distance travelled to foraging areas at 28 km (17 mi).^[18]
The king penguin's average swimming speed is 6.5–10 km/h (4–6 mph). On shallower dives under 60 m (200 ft), it averages 2 km/h (1.2 mph) descending and ascending, while on deeper dives over 150 m (490 ft) deep, it averages 5 km/h (3.1 mph) in both directions.^[19][22] King penguins also "porpoise", a swimming technique used to breathe while maintaining speed. On land, the king penguin alternates between walking with a wobbling gait and tobogganing—sliding over the ice on its belly, propelled by its feet and wing-like flippers. Like all penguins, it is flightless.^[23]

Diet

King penguin moulting, with pin feathers visible

King penguins eat various species of small fish, squid, and krill. Fish constitute roughly 80% of their diet, except in winter months of July and August, when they make up only around 30%.^[19] Lanternfish are the main fish taken, principally the species Electrona carlsbergi and Krefftichthys anderssoni, as well as Protomyctophum tenisoni. Slender escolar (Paradiplospinus gracilis) of the Gempylidae, and Champsocephalus gunneri, is also consumed. Cephalopods consumed include those of the genus Moroteuthis, the hooked squid or Kondakovia longimana, the sevenstar flying squid (Martialia hyadesii), young Gonatus antarcticus and Onychoteuthis species.^[19]

Predators

 Miller,JF, 1778

 

 

 

 Red: Aptenodytes patagonicus patagonicus

Yellow: Aptenodytes patagonicus halli
Green: breeding areas



The king penguin's predators include other seabirds and aquatic mammals:

• Giant petrels take many chicks of all sizes and some eggs. They have also been reported to occasionally kill adult king penguins, but very likely mostly sick or injured ones. Giant petrels scavenge adult king penguins and chicks which have died from other causes.^[24][25]
• Skua species (Stercorarius spp.) take smaller chicks and eggs. Some studies may have overstated the effect skua predation has on king penguin colonies, but large numbers of chicks and eggs are taken in areas where skua nest close to penguin colonies.^[26][27][28]
• The snowy sheathbill (Chionis alba) and kelp gull (Larus dominicanus) scavenge for dead chicks and unattended eggs.^[29]
• The leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx) takes adult birds and fledglings at sea.^[30]
• Orcas also hunt king penguins.^[31]
• Antarctic fur seals on Marion Island have also been observed chasing king penguins on the beach, killing and eating them. It seems that especially males, and particularly pre-adult males, are involved.^[32][33]

Courtship and breeding

A pair of king penguins performs a courtship ritual on Salisbury Plain, South Georgia.

Mating king penguins at Macquarie Island

The king penguin is able to breed at three years of age, although only a very small minority (5% recorded at Crozet Islands) actually do then; the average age of first breeding is around 5–6 years.^[34] King penguins are serially monogamous. They have only one mate each year, and stay faithful to that mate. However, fidelity between years is only about 29%.^[35] The unusually long breeding cycle probably contributes to this low rate.^[36]
The king penguin has an extremely prolonged breeding cycle, taking around 14–16 months from laying to offspring fledging.^[37] Although pairs will attempt to breed annually, they are generally only successful one year in two, or two years in three in a triennial pattern on South Georgia.^[30] The reproductive cycle begins in September to November, as birds return to colonies for a prenuptial moult. Those that were unsuccessful in breeding the previous season will usually arrive earlier. They then return to the sea for around three weeks before coming ashore in November or December.^[38]

Aptenodytes patagonicus egg

The female penguin lays one pyriform (pear-shaped) white egg weighing 300 g (⅔ lb).^[39] It is initially soft, but hardens and darkens to a pale greenish colour. It measures around 10 cm × 7 cm (3.9 in × 2.8 in).^[39] The egg is incubated for around 55 days with both birds sharing incubation in shifts of 6–18 days each.
Hatching may take up to 2–3 days to complete, and chicks are born semi-altricial and nidicolous. In other words, they have only a thin covering of down, and are entirely dependent on their parents for food and warmth.^[40] The guard phase begins with the hatching of the chick. Like the closely related emperor penguin, The young king penguin chick spends its time balanced on its parents' feet, sheltered by a pouch formed from the abdominal skin of the latter.^[40] During this time, the parents alternate every 3–7 days, one guarding the chick while the other forages for food. The guard phase lasts for 30–40 days. By then the chick has grown much bigger, can keep itself warm and better protect itself against most predators. It becomes more curious and starts to explore its surroundings. It ends up forming a group with other chicks, a so-called crèche. Crèches are guarded by only a few adult birds; most parents can leave their chick to forage for themselves and their chick. Other species of penguins also practice this method of communal care for offspring.

Close-up of king penguin chick.
Unlike emperor penguin chick, covered with brown down.

King penguin chicks

By April the chicks are almost fully grown, but lose weight by fasting over the winter months, gaining it again during spring in September. Fledging then takes place in late spring/early summer.
King penguins form huge breeding colonies; for example, the colony on South Georgia Island at Salisbury Plain holds over 100,000 breeding pairs and the colony at St. Andrew's Bay over 100,000 birds. Because of the very long breeding cycle, colonies are continuously occupied year-round with both adult birds and chicks.
The king penguin feeds its chicks by eating fish, digesting it slightly and regurgitating the food into the chick's mouth.
Because of their large size, king penguin chicks take 14–16 months before they are ready to go to sea. This is markedly different from smaller penguins, who rear their chicks through a single summer when food is plentiful. King penguins time their mating so the chicks will develop over the harshest season for fishing. In this way, by the time the young penguins are finally mature enough to leave their parents, it is summer when food is plentiful and conditions are more favorable for the young to survive alone at sea.

Relationship with humans

A pair of king penguin at Edinburgh Zoo

Considered a flagship species, 176 individuals were counted in captivity in North American zoos and aquaria in 1999.^[41] The species has been bred in captivity at SeaWorld San Diego. The species is exhibited at SeaWorld Orlando, Indianapolis Zoo,^[42] Detroit Zoo, Saint Louis Zoo,^[43] Kansas City Zoo, Newport Aquarium in Newport, Kentucky, Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland, Berlin Zoological Garden in Germany, Zurich Zoo in Switzerland, Diergaarde Blijdorp in the Netherlands, Antwerp Zoo in Belgium, 63 Seaworld in Seoul, South Korea, Melbourne Aquarium in Australia, Mar del Plata Museum of the Sea in Argentina, Loro Parque in Spain and Ski Dubai in United Arab Emirates, Calgary Zoo in Canada, Odense Zoo in Denmark and many other collections.

Notable king penguins

• Brigadier Sir Nils Olav, the Edinburgh-based mascot and colonel-in-chief of the Royal Norwegian Guard
• Misha, a central character and metaphor in two novels by Ukrainian writer Andrey Kurkov
• The king penguin is also the species of penguin represented by the popular character Pondus, an image found on various paraphernalia in many retail stores throughout Canada. Pondus originates in Danish children's books written and photographed by Ivar Myrhøj and published in 1997 by Lademann publisher in the late 1960s. These penguins appeared in the production of Batman Returns.
• Lala the Penguin became a viral video star after an Animal Planet special featured him venturing to a nearby market in Japan to fetch a fish with a specially made backpack.^[44] Lala had been accidentally caught by a fisherman. The fisherman and his family nursed Lala back to health, then adopted him as a pet.^[45]
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