Amazing Gentoo Penguin Facts
Amazing Gentoo Penguin Facts
2. Gentoo penguins have black feathers with white feathers on their belly. They have a white stripe over the top of their head. They have a black and orange beak. Their webbed feet are orange-yellow. They have longer tail feathers than other types of penguins.
3. Though they are birds, penguins spend most of their lives in the water as fast and powerful predators.
4. They are about 51 cm high and weigh about 5kg.
5. They make a nest on the islands of grass, stones and sticks. Like Adelies and Chinstraps, the Gentoo penguin will fight over rocks for the nest. These three penguins will sometimes share their rookeries.
6. They often lay two eggs, and both parents take turns sitting on the eggs.
7. Once the chicks hatch, they live in a crèche with the other chicks in the colony.
9. They stick their orange tongues out.
10. They eat krill, squid and small fish like ice-fish and Antarctic cod.
11. They can dive to about 200m, the deepest of any penguin except the Emperor and King Penguins. When they enter the water or when they are going back on land, they like to porpoise through the water.
12. Enemies of the gentoo include skuas and giant petrels which like to eat the eggs and small chicks. Leopard Seals and sometimes fur seals are the adults’ main enemy. Pollution and climate change are also causing harm.
13. They build circle-shaped nests out of stones and grass. The males will gather the materials and the females make the nests. The female lays 2 eggs and the parents take turns caring for the eggs. It takes about 35 days for the eggs to hatch. Usually only 1 of the chicks will survive.
14. They are the 3rd largest penguin.
15. They are the fastest underwater swimming bird.
16. They are very noisy. They make loud, trumpet-like sounds.
17. They sometimes get tangled in fishing nets.
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