Goldenhaired penguin (lat. Eudyptes Chrysolophus) is a representative of the class of poultry, a penguinlike detachment, a penguin family, a kind of crested penguin.
The second name of the birds is Penguin Makaroni. It was given to representatives of the penguins due to the fact that they looked like the English dandies with their strange hairstyle.
Appearance
Penguin average growth is 71 cm. This bird weighs from 5 to 6 kg. This indicator changes throughout the year: before the offensive of the reproduction season, goldenhaired penguins throw off weight, and gain before the molting. Sexual dimorphism in the species is not expressed.
A distinctive feature of the species are yellow and orange crests on the head. The penguins also have a bright red curved beak, which is very distinguished against the background of black face plumage and other parts of the body. Only the stomach and a small part of the neck are painted in white. The space under the wings is usually pinkish or orange.
Where it lives
Penguin Macaroni inhabites a small part of Antarctica and Subantarctic islands located a little south of America with Africa. Most of the individuals live on the Southern Sentwit Islands, about. Crose and Fr. McDonald.
Goldenhaired penguins inhabit wet cliffs and cliffs that are above the ocean.
What eats
Penguin diet is almost entirely made of kril and squid. They can eat crustaceans, which can only be found in the Indian Ocean. Thousands of kilometers overcome the colony for the extraction of these crustaceans.
Reproduction
Representatives of the species prefer to multiply in the Subatlantic. The reproduction season starts in the last days of October or in early November. Future parents make nests for kids from dirt and branches. In their free time from construction, they rest on huge beds, where there are immediately millions of individuals.
The difference between the species is that the first egg is much smaller than the second and often the chick in it dies. Both parents take turns engaged. In general, incubation takes from 33 to 37 days. The male is busy with “upbringing”, he protects offspring while the female is looking for food. This period lasts about 25 days. Further, the kids create small groups, all their participants in the same age. After 60-70 days they go to sea, usually this happens in AprilMay.
Behavior
Goldenhaired penguins usually live in huge colonies, which are created in pairs. In their free time, birds swim and produce deep dives. This is possible only thanks to solid, and not hollow, like the rest of the birds, bones. Thanks to developed light ones, they can hold their breath for 2-3 minutes. During the session of the penguin, as it were, “steer” with their wings and tail.
Natural enemies
The goldenhaired penguins are most often attacked by killer whales and leopard seals. Colony Skua hunt weak individuals and chicks. Like relatives, these penguins are almost not visible in the water, they communicate with each other in water to quickly notice the danger and go out to land in case of anxiety.
Killed enemies for penguins
The status of a population
Goldenhaired penguin is included in the MSOP list. To date, the populations are stable, there are about 9 million individuals on the globe in total. But these birds are still acutely reacting to poaching, greenhouse effect and water pollution by industry waste.
