King Penguins Documentary

King penguins are the second largest species of penguin known for their striking appearance and fascinating behaviors. When king penguins were first discovered by European explorers in the early 18th century, they were thought to be the largest penguin species alive. In 1844, George Robert Grazy from the British Museum separated them from the even larger emperor penguin that had been seen for the first time during Captain Cook's second voyage. King and emperor penguins are close relatives. They both belong to the genus Aptonidites derived from the Greek meaning featherless diver. At first glance, the king penguin appears very similar to the larger 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, but the two can be distinguished from one another by the king's longer, straighter, bill, larger flippers, and noticeably sleeker body. The juvenile king penguin with its long bill and heavy dark brown down is completely different in appearance from the mostly gray emperor chick with its black and white mask. Once molted of its brown juvenile plumage, the king chick resembles the adult, but is somewhat less colorful. Male's king penguin has a tend to be slightly larger than females. Their body mass changes throughout the breeding season. When the birds return to their colonies and start courting, they weigh 10 to 15 kilograms. By the end of the breeding season, they may weigh only 8 to 11 kilograms. King penguins are the closest relatives of emperor penguins. Kings are thinner, and the coloration of their ear patches differs from that of emperors. Their flippers are larger in proportion to their body size than those of emperors. King penguins are occasionally seen on the South Sandwich Island, off the Antarctic Peninsula, and a couple of new colonies appear to be establishing in Patagonia. Some large colonies appear to have decreased, however. The global population appears to have stabilized in recent decades at approximately 1.6 million breeding pairs. King penguins are highly gregarious, although the breeding adults remain separated from non-breeding birds. Fighting among birds in colonies is rare. King penguins are quite specialized in their prey. They mainly eat lanternfish, myctophids, especially during the breeding season. Over winter, the percentage of squid in their diet increases. At sea, predators of king penguins include leopard seals and killer whales. In the colonies, skuas, sheathbills, and giant petrels take eggs and young birds. At the Falkland Islands, Malvinas, turkey vultures, and caracaras also feed on eggs and chicks. King penguins tend to form large, dense colonies. Several hundred thousand breeding pairs occupy the largest populations, found at South Georgia and Crozet Islands. The colonies occupy beaches, valleys, and moraines free of snow and ice. They prefer level ground near the sea. King penguins do not build a nest but incubate the eggs on their feet. Incubation lasts about 54 days. The males take on the first incubation shift. If the male's body reserves become insufficient to sustain himself before the female returns, he will abandon the egg. Abandoned eggs are usually not replaced. King penguins are diurnal and social animals, gathering in colonies. Usually, these colonies cover large territories, located in open areas with poor vegetation, since the birds do not tend to climb. In order to forage, king penguins travel long distances, up to 500 kilometers, from their breeding areas. Before feeding, they like to bathe in the ocean. During the daytime, penguins can dive to depths of 100 to 300 meters, remaining there for about five minutes before coming to the surface, while at night, they usually do not dive deeper than 30 meters. When on land, king penguins move either by walking with the characteristic ungainly wobbling gait, or simply sliding over the ice surface on their bellies, pushing themselves with their feet and flippers.