Comments on: African penguin Individuals: Kianga

By: pschaller

pschaller — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 17:38:44 +0000

Noah,
Parents must completely cover and frequently roll the eggs until they hatch 37-40 days later. Chicks require full time crae until they are 60-90 days old, parents protect them, keep them warm and feed them regurgitated fish. Penguin have strong, sharp beaks to catch and swallow fish whole. They do not have teeth.

By: Noah

Noah — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 21:11:10 +0000

What kind of care do eggs and baby penguins need?
Do they have teeth?
If not what do they have?

By: pschaller

pschaller — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 18:13:25 +0000

Karen, the penguins at the Academy display the same behaviors as penguins in the wild. In the wild, normally a group of penguins will appproach the water together pushing each other into the water. The prevailing thought is this is a test to see if predators are close by. In South Africa, Cape Fur Seals are known to patrol the waters where the penguins enter and will eat as many as 5 penguins during some seasons. Even though there are no Fur Seals in the exhibit, the penguins still exhibit this dominancy behavior.

By: pschaller

pschaller — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 18:09:16 +0000

Noah, penguins are birds that are adapted to swimming. They are classified as birds because they are warm blooded (can maintain their own body temperature), have wings and lay eggs. Their wings are adpated for swimming. The wings are very small and cannot support the penguin to fly at all. The females lays 2 eggs once per year, which both parents care for. If you want to learn more about penguins there are many introductory books that can be found in our Naturalist Center at the Academy. We also have an internship program where we recruit 9-10th grade students to aid our reseachers, you can find out more information about this on our website.

By: Karen in OH

Karen in OH — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 17:45:55 +0000

Any idea why they sometimes push another penguin into the water? Thanks.

By: Noah

Noah — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 17:44:52 +0000

I am young and I want to know more about penguins give me tips

By: Bill Hughes

Bill Hughes — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 22:54:27 +0000

Thank you for the clarification. Someone told me of a species call Tigris which I confused with the bird you described.

By: pschaller

pschaller — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 21:32:04 +0000

While penguins are not found in the Northern Hemisphere, I did get a chance to investigate. The bird you are identifying is acutally a species of Cormorant. This is normally found in Sausalito and the surrounding communities. It does spend time swimming, but unlike penguins, can also fly.

By: Bill Hughes

Bill Hughes — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 16:31:39 +0000

I think there’s a penquin in the marsh of Sausalito. Should I be concerned?

By: Karen in OH

Karen in OH — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 14:23:28 +0000

She’s so cute! What bands does Jahzara have? Thanks, again, for all you do!