Magellanic Penguin

Magellanic Penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus )

The Magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus ) is a species of bird in the genus of penguins (Spheniscus ). It occurs in southern South America. Their scientific name was given to the style but because of their frequency on the shores of " Terra Magellanica ", which corresponds approximately to the region of Patagonia. The most amazing thing about these penguins is the lack of any fear of the people. You can take them up at arms length without them flee or show threatening gestures. You have to give even care that it does not occur on the feet of them, so guileless these birds.

Appearance

The Magellanic penguin is about 70 cm long and weighs four kilograms. The head and the top of the fuselage, wings and tail are black. The bottom of the fuselage and the wing is white, but here are a few irregularly distributed black dots. A white stripe runs from the throat in a sweeping arc over the neck and behind the cheek for over eyes glancing up to the beak-root. The white outline of the eye combines with this eye-streak over. From the beak root pulls out a small white drops to eye level. Front above the eye to the beak-root the plumage is tinged slightly pink. From the chest a black band draws on the flanks up to the legs, where it tapers and terminates considerably tapered at the feet. The iris is dark red, the legs are flesh- colored with black skin flakes on the top. The beak is mostly black and colored horn-colored irregular. Females are slightly smaller than males and do not differ in plumage. The second Dunengefieder of the young birds is gray-brown and on the chest, belly and throat white. Around the eyes and on the cheeks there is a bright area, which is connected with the white throat. Fledging young birds resemble the adult birds very much.

Distribution, numbers and hazard

The Magellanic Penguin comes to the rocky coasts of the Falkland Islands, off Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and partly also in southern Brazil. The stock in the Falkland Islands is about 100,000 breeding pairs, on the coasts of Argentina brood 650,000 pairs. The total population is estimated by the IUCN to approximately 1.3 million breeding pairs. A risk of the stock goes out especially to oil pollution of sea water, but also hunting and overfishing play a role, so that the Magellanic penguin by the IUCN as a kind of early warning ( " near threatened " ) substance.

Reproduction

Females stride from the age of four years for breeding males over 5 years. The Magellanic penguin burrows to a nesting hole when the ground permits. Otherwise, it breeds in small hollows, crevices or under bushes. The females appear in September at the hatchery, egg laying begins about mid-October. The two equal-sized eggs are laid at intervals of four days and each weighing about 125 g, you will incubate for approximately 40 days. The female broods first, while the male hunts up to 500 km from the breeding site. It solves the females after 15 to 20 days. The female then goes to hunt.

After hatching, the young, the partners change daily from the hudern. A parent is alternately morning hunt and later returned on the day, so that the young are fed once a day. During this time the parents hunt about 40 km from the breeding Square. The hunt will take longer the larger the young birds, as they will need more food. The young birds will then sometimes after a few days food.

Although the two eggs are the same size, the parents prefer the first hatched young bird at feeding time. This leads to a higher mortality of the second young bird. Nevertheless, the parents can successfully raise two young birds when they can procure food sufficient.

After 30 days the young birds have their second Dunengefieder and can leave the breeding burrow. They do not form youth groups, as the breeding cave offers them good protection from the cold and predators.

During heavy rain the young birds can be cool and wet, as the immature plumage is not waterproof and wet loses its heat-insulating property. The young birds can cause death due to hypothermia. In rare cases, they may drown in the breeding cave.

With 9 to 17 weeks, the young birds fledge, depending on the food.

Food

Magellanic penguins feed mainly on fish (eg Micromesistius australis, Sprattus fuegensis, Engraulis anchoita Merluccius hubbsi and ), squid ( Loligo gahi, Gonatus antarcticus, Moroteuthis ingens and Onychoteuthis sp.) And krill ( Munida gregaria ) in approximately equal shares. The hunt takes place in water depths up to about 50 meters depth instead, but can go up to a maximum at 100 meters depth. In winter, the Magellanic penguins can also come in search of food to the coasts of northern Brazil.