Point or South African penguin (lat. SPheniscus demersus) is a bird that belongs to the penguin detachment, the penguin family and the genus of point penguins.
Appearance
The color of this penguin is mostly black, its back, legs and beak are painted in this color. Against this background, pearl-white breasts and stomach stands out. Penguin gave such an unusual name due to a pattern in the form of glasses on the head. There is a thin black strip on the horseshoes on the horseshoes. The height of the individual is about 70 cm. Weighs a penguin approximately 4 kg. Sexual dimorphism is expressed in sizes: females are below and worse than males.
What eats
The diet of point penguins is 90% of flock of fish fry, herring. During the day, the individual eats only half a kilogram of fish. Perse Perse, which is produced in the waters of Africa, one of the main reasons for a decrease in the number of species.
Where it lives
South African Penguin prefers to nest on the territory of the southern and southwestern coast of Africa. These places are washed with a rather cold Bengal bay.
Places for creating colonies from nesting steam rocky terrain. However, some nest on the shore.
Lifestyle and behavior
Penguins are very fond of spending time in water, so most of their life passes. They swim to land only for the marriage period. However, during their daily migrations in the ocean, they do not sail from the shore over significant distances, so this species cannot be called nomadic. How all their relatives swim freely and quickly enough the speed of their movement is 20 km/h. These birds also experience their lungs, not breathing for several minutes during a dive to a depth of about 100 m. In the process of hunting, penguins in the courage can swim more than 100 km. This is possible due to the presence of organs on the head that support the optimum body temperature. These organs are represented by pink “eyebrows”. When the temperature rises, more blood begins to flow to the organs. Subsequently, it is cooled due to the fact that the skin in this place is quite thin.
Molting
This is a whole test for penguins who love to swim in water. After all, they lose this ability. At the same time, the opportunity to catch a prey for yourself. This is how about 20 days pass.
Enemies
This species has a lot of enemies. The most important of them is a person who performs actions that greatly reduce the population: capture caps, catching their food. While the penguins calmly enjoy swimming, sharks, killer whales and sea seals can attack them. With the latter, point penguins often fight for places in the territories of nesting or simply in the territories of recreation. They are fighting in the water, this time for prey.
Eggs often steal seagulls and wild cats in some places. They love to attack the chicks.
Killed an enemy of a point of a penguin
Reproduction
Penguins starting in November and early January in the north-west of Africa. Sunny penguins force eggs at the end of November. However, the bird schedule in the south-west of the range is significantly different-they incubate eggs from May to July.
This type of monogamen. At least most individuals. There were cases when couples remained together for about 10-15 years, moreover, with the beginning of the nesting period, they were exactly in the same place as last year.
Penguins are equipped with small stones, twigs and guano (litter of birds and other animals). The latter also helps to save eggs in the warmth. The nest itself is located in a hole or in a crevice. There are usually 2 eggs in one masonry, moreover, the latter is usually larger and the tenacious of the first.
The forcing period lasts about 40 days. Partners replace each other every 2-3 days.
Only the chicks who were born have a gray fluff, which later acquires a blue underon.
Feed kids for about 80 days. The first 2 weeks after hatching either the father or mother are next to them, so that the chicks do not freeze and do not become easy prey for predators. This continues for another month, after which both guardians go “hunting”, and the chicks gather in groups. Upon reaching 120-130 days, the penguins are simulated, leaving for the sea. After 1-2 years, they return to their colony and melt.
Environmental status
The number of penguins fell back in the 1900s due to the fact that a person began to master the nesting biotopes, pollute the seas and oceans with oil and waste of its processing in the waters washing the southern coast of Africa Africa. The reasons that caused such extinction include theft of eggs, which was banned only in 1969. So, only 40,000 penguins are left from 400,000. At present, this indicator has increased and is approximately 60.000 individuals. The point of the penguin also replenished both the Red Book of South Africa and the IUCN International Red Book, where the endangered species are collected.
Security
At the moment, the population is strictly guarded. In the territories where birds nest, national parks have been created (Vienna National Park). Recently donkey penguins were also brought to the Moscow Zoo.
The entrance for tourists is almost everywhere closed, but the entrance is not limited in some protected areas, but only subject to the rules: tourists can only go on wooden structures and has no right to feed, touch animals. In this case, the penguins almost do not feel changes in the environment.
Also in the zoos and national park for nesting couples create “houses”.
