Penguins how do they eat

Species that have to travel hundreds of kilometers away from the colony and the coast, such as: — Adelie penguin Pygoscelis adeliae , — Chinstrap penguin Pygoscelis Antarctica , — Emperor penguin Aptenodytes forsteri , — King penguin Aptenodytes patagonicus , — Magellanic penguin Magellanic penguin and — All the crested species.

During the incubation period, these species tend to travel much further, since the supply of food in the areas where they live is seasonal. Penguins do not sit and wait for a fish, squid or crustacean to jump to their beaks.

All the opposite, these birds have to chase prey grouped in shoals, like fish and krill. The squids are the exception as they are mainly loners. All penguins species look for their food in the ocean; therefore, they have to swim several meters down the surface. Their bodies have the proper adaptations to swimming fast after the prey.

When diving underwater, they are extremely agile and have no problem to capture small fish with their beaks. The time they can stay underwater can last several minutes, but it varies depending on the species. For example, the emperor penguin can stay submerged for up to 20 minutes without surfacing. How do these penguins do it? The Treaty makes it illegal to harm, or in any way interfere with, a penguin or its eggs. I guess its reputation as a hardy dish precedes it.

And as we know, penguins are protected by laws and international treaties. No species of bird is injecting or producing venom, but some birds are known to be poisonous to touch or eat.

Birds that have toxic meat, sequester poisons from animals and plants that they digest, and most commonly from poisonous insects. Eating quails can cause coturnism , an illness featuring muscle tenderness and muscle cell breakdown. Quails with toxic meat have previously fed on poisonous plants. Mhmm, tasty.

Penguin eggs, same as penguin meat, is not allowed for consumption since 12 nations signed the Atlantic Treaty in that protects Antarctica and preserves its living resources. I've lived around animals my whole life and I hold a Diploma in Animal Physiology. When I'm not reading or writing about wild animals, health and fitness, and technology, you can find me playing with my son and two cats. My pastimes include running, playing video games, and solving the NY Times crossword.

Paxton, et al. Samar, Maria Elena, et al. Penguins feed on fish, plankton and all kinds of jellyfish standing at the top of the food chain. Most top predators do not worry much about being eaten, since they are generally the hunters. But penguins are not quite at the top of the food web, more in the middle, a position called a mesopredator. Penguins have some natural enemies threatening them both in the ocean and on land.

Leopard seals are vicious hunters with a bad reputation. Their big size almost 3. Although leopard seals prey on large proportions of fish, Emperor penguins comprise their main penguin prey.

There are also records of leopard seals attacking King, Adelie, Rockhopper, Chinstrap and Gentoo penguins 1,2. Their favorite hunting technique is the ambush. Leopard seals hover under ice edges, almost completely underwater waiting for the birds to jump in the ocean 1.

Seals know that young penguins are still not experienced in the water, and in particular have difficulty at swimming and hunting simultaneously, thus these young penguins become a relatively easy prey to catch.

Seals also wait for those moments when penguin abundance is at its greatest, for example, during the breeding season 2.

Leopard seals attack adult penguins during foraging trips. Penguins have no choice, as they need to venture into the ocean regularly, because they need to feed their partners and offspring. Killer whales have a diverse diet, but it has been observed that different populations specialize in specific types of prey 3.

Orcas have been recorded preying on Emperor, Gentoo and Chinstrap penguins 3,4. The magnitude of the predation impact by killer whales on penguin populations has not yet been quantified 4. Two types of orcas have been identified chasing penguins: type B, seal specialists and type A, whale specialists, although with no records of predation for the latter 3. Unlike leopard seals, orcas are highly organized social animals that live in family groups.

Killer whales have shown fascinating hunting techniques and an extremely advanced communication system between members. One thing that is absolutely fascinating about killer whales is that such behaviors are passed from generation to generation and now scientists believe that this is a clear evidence of animal culture 3. Once the ice is flipped, there is almost no escape for the prey 3. The evidence for sea lions and fur-seals preying on penguins is more extensive.

Although most sea lions are largely dependent on fish and smaller marine vertebrates, many of them have been recorded preying on penguins.

For example, Antarctic fur seals have been documented preying on King Penguins ashore 5. Similarly, South American sea lions have been observed attacking and killing Rockhopper and Gentoo penguins in Argentina, Chile and the Falkland Islands 6,7.

Sea lion predation on penguins has been observed both during swimming at sea and while resting on land. Finally, there are records of New Zealand sea lions feeding on yellow-eyed penguins.

In this case, the sea lions are from a recovering population with numbers steadily increasing. This increase may cause a major threat to these endangered penguins if predation rates intensify 8. So far, we have discovered a variety of penguin enemies living and hunting in the same waters as penguins. Nonetheless, penguins are also at risk on land, where more enemies await for adults and their offspring.

Stay tuned to discover our next story. What do you think about where penguins sit on the food chain? Let us know! Also, please help us continue to learn more about penguins by donating to Penguins International. We more than appreciate your support! Penney, R. Leopard seal predation of adelie penguins. Ecology, 48 5 , Pitman, R.

Killer whale predation on penguins in Antarctica. Polar Biology, 33 11 , Hofmeyr, G. Predation on king penguins by Antarctic fur seals. Vol 4. Rey, A. New records of South American sea lion Otaria flavescens predation on southern rockhopper penguins Eudyptes chrysocome at Staten Island, Argentina. Polar biology, 35 2 , Cursach, J. Lalas, C. Predation by New Zealand sea lions Phocarctos hookeri as a threat to the viability of yellow-eyed penguins Megadyptes antipodes at Otago Peninsula, New Zealand.

Biological Conservation, 2 , Rockhopper penguins comprise two different species: the Southern and Northern Rockhoppers 1. Currently they are distributed and inhabit many offshores sub-Antarctic islands.

Rockhoppers are among the smaller species of penguins and they are better known to us thanks to their ability to displace using both feet performing little jumps i.

Unlike other penguins that love a fishy diet, Rockhopper diets are largely based on krill and other small invertebrates. This means that optimal levels of prey abundance are heavily influenced by fluctuations in oceanographic conditions, like temperature, the mixing of the water, and concentration of phytoplankton. Every year, male Southern Rockhoppers return to shore in small groups after months of oceanic life.

Females show up a few days later, and the breeding season begins. Year after year, Rockhoppers return to their same old nests and start a new clutch. After laying two eggs, moms and dads hang around their nests for a few days, before the male leaves for 2 to 4 weeks to feed in the ocean.

This will occur when the eggs are about to hatch. During this period, females are in charge of feeding, while males are in charge of chick guarding. Males will only eat again approximately 3 weeks after that. Such a long cycle of eating and non-eating means that for males, the first foraging trip during incubation is the most critical for their survival. In a recent study 2 , researchers have discovered that this critical foraging period is not as predictable as we thought before.

Between and , 62 male Rockhoppers from different colonies in the Falkland Islands were followed during the incubation period. These penguins were equipped with GPS loggers and time-depth recorders to record all the vital information about their journeys and the environmental conditions they encountered. The researchers were surprised when they saw the data. In , however, most of the penguins went back to the previously known foraging patterns, in which they explored far away distances and stayed offshore for several weeks, while the female stayed incubating the eggs.

Such findings show that some species are capable to change their habits to some degree. In biology, this is known as behavioral plasticity, meaning that some species can show certain flexibility in behavior e. As predicted, most of these behavioral changes were in relation to oceanographic conditions prevalent during those years. Years that showed a decrease in SST sea surface temperature were those in which penguins foraged mostly short distances, while years with normal to increased SST where those in which males foraged offshore.

What does this mean for the future of Rockhoppers? Such variations in temperature conditions could affect the energy expenditure in penguins. Years with decreased SST will mean better energy efficiency balance by penguins, because their prey will be available within a close range from the colony and penguins will not have to travel as far.

In contrast, an increase in sea surface temperatures in the South Atlantic and Southern Oceans will inevitably force penguins to travel longer distances, threatening the survival of males. A warming planet therefore poses a threat for Rockhoppers, as increasing SST and alterations in water column mixing within the ocean have already been recorded and are predicted to continue.