What do emperor penguins eat? Igor Zimin
The emperor penguin was discovered by the Bellingshausen expedition of 1819-1822. A significant contribution to the study of the emperor penguin was made by Robert Scott's Antarctic expedition of 1910-1913. when a group of three (including Adrian Wilson) went from a base at Cape Evans in McMurdo Sound to Cape Crozier, where they obtained several penguin eggs, which was important for studying the embryonic period of development of these birds.
You can find out more about all types of these amazing creatures in the topic “Penguins - unusual birds”; this same post is entirely dedicated to the Emperor penguin. The emperor penguin is the largest of the penguins. When the emperor penguin stands hunched over on land, its height is approximately 90 cm, but when it is alert and moving, it is 110-120 cm. The weight of the emperor penguin is 20-45 kg. The dorsal side of the emperor penguin is dark, grayish-blue, and on the head this color turns black. There are round yellowish-orange spots near the ears, moving to the underside of the neck and gradually fading to nothing on the chest. Emperor penguin chicks are covered with long, white or grayish-white down; the top of the head and the vertical strip separating the cheeks from the back of the head are brownish-black.
Unlike all other penguins, the emperor's nesting season occurs during the harshest time of year in Antarctica - winter. At the end of the Antarctic summer, i.e. at the beginning of March, the first emperor penguins appear on the ice. At first, they behave extremely passively: they stand motionless, hunched over and with their heads pulled into their shoulders. As the fast ice becomes thicker and covers a larger area, the number of emperor penguins increases and reaches 5 and even 10 thousand. Pairs begin to form in April. The male moves from place to place and makes loud, peculiar sounds. After waiting for some time, he moves again and screams again. This can last for several hours, and sometimes for several days. Finally, a female emperor penguin responds to the male's voice and a pair is formed. From this time on, the male and female stay together, but quite a lot of time passes, about 25 days, before an egg is laid, the only one during the breeding season.
The female holds the egg on her paws for some time, covering it with a special fold of skin on the underside of her abdomen. After a few hours it is transferred to the male, who also holds it on his paws. After this, the females, one after another, sometimes alone, more often in groups of 3-4 birds, go to sea. This continues throughout May. Some males turn out to be “selfish”; they do not accept eggs from the female and run away from her to the sea. Sometimes a male emperor penguin walks to the sea holding an egg on his paws. Eventually, such an egg rolls out and dies. However, most males jealously guard the egg, move very little, and often gather in dense heaps. And all this time they are hungry, at times; They only “eat” snow. Males arrive at nesting sites well-fed, with a thick layer of fat, which is especially developed on the belly. But during incubation, all this fat reserve (about 5-6 kg) is consumed. Penguins lose up to 40% of their weight, lose a lot of weight, their plumage becomes dirty, completely losing its original shine and silkiness.
This goes on for about two months, and when the time for the chicks to hatch approaches, at the end of July, well-fed and fat females begin to arrive from the sea. The return of females continues throughout the month, and each of them finds her male by voice. Having been hungry for four months, the male emperor penguin hastily gives the egg to his girlfriend and hurries to the sea, the open surface of which is now very far from the nesting sites. It happens that some female emperor penguins are late, and the chick hatches without them. Such chicks often die before their mother arrives from the sea. The process of hatching an emperor penguin chick takes two days, and at first the weak chick, which does not yet have a downy covering, continues to sit on the female’s paws, covered by her abdominal “pouch.”
In the entire colony, hatching lasts about a month. Well-fed males return in September. Using vocal signals, they find their females and begin to feed the chicks. The life of the nesting colony does not go smoothly. The polar night, terrible cold, and hurricane-force winds sometimes force birds to cluster in dense heaps. Often the eggs are lost. Sometimes immature, younger male emperor penguins steal eggs from their neighbors, and later, when the chicks begin to move away from their parents, fights break out over them. Single males each pull a chick towards themselves; the chick, like a soccer ball, rolls from one adult penguin to another, gets bruised and wounded, and eventually dies. Chicks also die from skuas. At the end of November, in the summer, adult birds moult. Emperor penguins at this time are on land, if possible, in a place protected from the wind. For each individual, molting lasts 20 days, and the birds fast during this time.
Emperor penguins have few enemies, and the natural age of these birds can be up to 25 years.
The only predators that kill adult emperor penguins in or near water are killer whales and leopard seals. On ice floes it sometimes happens that emperor penguin chicks become prey to skuas or giant petrels. It is the latter that poses the greatest danger, since it causes the death of up to a third of emperor penguin chicks. These birds pose no danger to adults.
On the eve of the release of the already notorious film “Matilda” on the big screens, we made a selection of the favorite estates and palaces of Nicholas II. We found out where the last emperor of the Russian Empire lived and rested.
Alexander Palace
After 1904, Nicholas II chose it as his place of permanent residence. In place of the premises in the right wing, which were previously occupied by the retinue, the personal chambers of the Emperor and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna appeared. At the beginning of the 20th century, under Emperor Nicholas II, the Alexander Palace became the main residence of the imperial family and the center of court life: ambassadors were received here, the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov and the 200th anniversary of Tsarskoe Selo were celebrated.
At this time, the palace underwent a number of reconstructions and improvements. A balcony was attached to the outer wall of the first floor. The heating and water supply system was improved, thanks to which it was now possible to live in the palace even in the cold season.
It was in the Alexander Palace that Nicholas II spent the most time with his family.
Livadia Palace
The most famous summer residence of the king. For many years, the Livadia Palace was a favorite vacation spot for Russian monarchs. Alexander II loved to spend the cold winter months here.
And from the beginning of 1900, Nicholas II and his family. In 1911, according to the design of the Yalta architect Nikolai Petrovich Krasnov, a new White Palace was built for Emperor Nicholas II. According to some reports, the king spent about 4 million gold rubles on the palace.
The building has 116 separate rooms, one large courtyard and three small light courtyards. The royal family came here to improve their health, and large receptions were held here. This is the largest summer palace of the last royal family.
Hunting residence in Turkey
Like any Russian prince Nicholas II loved hunting. The royal family had several hunting residences not only in Russia, but also abroad. One of these mansions was located in northeast Turkey. Nicholas II's dacha in Kars was built in 1896, after the region was captured by the Russian army during the Russian-Turkish War. How often the emperor appeared there is unknown.
Estate in Dagomys
For a long time, Dagomys, along with Krasnaya Polyana and other tasty corners of the coast, was a royal estate, where not only members of the Romanov family, but also ministers close to the court vacationed. The gentle sea softened the heat of the southern summer, and in the surrounding forests there was always plenty of game. On the territory of the estate itself, a luxurious arboretum was established, which has preserved to this day a significant part of its former splendor.
Hunting estate on Krasnaya Polyana
The hunting lodge of Emperor Nicholas II is a unique landmark of the village of Krasnaya Polyana. Built in 1898, it belonged to the last Russian emperor for many years.
The three-story house is designed in a traditional English style. A little below the main building, a huntsman's house was erected, as well as a protective wall and a guard booth. From 1903 to 1917 Members of the Romanov family visited the royal house. Emperor Nicholas II himself, his wife and children never visited either the royal house or Krasnaya Polyana. Most often the house was visited by the Grand Dukes Sergei Mikhailovich and Alexander Mikhailovich Romanov.
After the construction of the royal house, the forests growing on the slope of Mount Achishkho were declared a protected area; only members of the imperial family, as well as senior government officials, could hunt here.
Winter Palace
Another large residence of the king. The Winter Palace is more associated with the sad and tragic events in the life of the imperial family, however, representatives of the royal family managed to spend many happy hours there too. This palace became the home for the family of Nicholas II and remained so from 1905 to August 1, 1917. The Winter Palace served as the emperor’s residential residence for almost 9 years.
The emperor penguin is the tallest and largest of all living penguins. It is noticeable in the photo that the tall (over a meter in height) and portly emperor penguin is the most prominent representative of the Penguin family.
This penguin is endemic, found only in Antarctica.
The appearance of the emperor penguin is very impressive and bright: the rich black plumage of the back, head and wings contrasts sharply with the snow-white belly.
The back feathers have a noticeable gray-blue camouflage tint. In the emperor penguin, the soft yellow throat feathers fade into the bright yellow plumage of the parotid areas on the sides of the head. The largest individuals weigh about 40 kg. The female and male look the same, but differ in weight.
The living conditions of penguins are much harsher than those of any other birds. Antarctica's low temperatures, strong piercing winds, snow storms and icy sea waters create impossible living conditions. But not for penguins. They have adapted perfectly to the extreme features of their habitat.
The small size of the head and limbs, a thick layer of subcutaneous fat, and a feather cover made of very tightly adjacent hard short feathers reduce heat loss and promote waterproofing (the feather cover is water-repellent). The streamlined body and flipper-like wings make the penguin a natural swimmer and diver.
Emperor penguins are social animals. They live in large colonies - on Antarctic ice near shelters in the form of hummocks, rocks, cliffs and ice irregularities. To keep warm, penguins gather in close groups, and the animals constantly change places: they move from the edges to the center and vice versa.
Emperor penguins form pairs in the depths of winter with gale force winds (200 km/h) and low temperatures (below 60 °C). But the chicks that are born will grow up and get stronger by the end of summer. Within 6 weeks of mating, the female emperor penguin lays an egg. Having transferred the egg to the male, the female goes in search of food and returns back after 2.5-3 months. The male warms the egg by holding it under his belly on his paws and covering it with a fold of skin.
During the brooding period, the penguin loses almost half of its body weight (about 40%). But he goes to the sea in search of food only after the female returns. The mother feeds the chick with semi-digested fish. Next, the parents take turns obtaining food to feed the chick. At the age of two months, grown-up babies begin to gather in flocks - nurseries. At some point (summer), adult penguins stop providing the young with food, and they move on to independent life.
To feed itself, the emperor penguin has to spend a lot of time in the water, diving up to 450 m deep and swimming into the open sea at a distance of up to 1000 km. Their diet consists mainly of fish, but also crustaceans such as krill and cephalopods such as squid.
Aptenodytes forsteri (Emperor penguin) is a fairly numerous species of the family Spheniscidae. He is the largest penguin on Earth, because the body of an adult is about 120 cm in length and weighs 27-40 kg. The emperor penguin was first discovered by Bellingshausen's expedition around 1819.
This variety of birds looks as if they are wearing a tailcoat: the head is black, with a blue tint, a white chest, a gray-blue back and a purple-pink beak at the base. The yellow-golden stripe extends all the way to the neck.
Since there are no flight feathers on the wings, and they are too short to hold the bird’s heavy body in the air, they play the role of fins. The emperor penguin uses them when diving, like flippers, which facilitates rapid movement in water masses.
Emperor penguins can cover considerable distances while hunting. Swimming speed is 20-25 km/h, reachable depth is up to 535 meters. But if these animals are in a hurry, then the speed can develop even more (about twice). The surface area of penguins' shoulder blades is extremely large. The muscles that are responsible for raising both wings are attached to them. The muscles of the chest are also well formed and make up up to 30% of the total body weight.
The penguin is a bird that has lost the ability to fly, but has perfectly adapted to extreme temperature conditions. Several layers of durable and warm feathers make it possible to withstand icy winds and temperatures down to -50 degrees Celsius. The layer of fat can reach a thickness of three centimeters. This protection under the skin prevents the penguin from dying during the cold.
O people have composed many wonderful songs and poetic works. But few people know the fact that the penguin is also a monogamous bird. Meanwhile, they form a couple once and for life.
The emperor penguin attracts the female specimen of interest to him with his voice. The male's cry arouses the female's interest, and his “serenade” forces the female to respond. From this time on, the male and female stay together.
The duration of such “flirting” is a month. During this period, the penguin follows on the heels of his chosen one, then they dance for hours, shaking their heads to the beat. After this, the emperor penguins arch, raising their heads up, and sing in turns. The most interesting thing is that before the process of copulation, the female and the male bow low to each other, as if making a decision to never be separated again.
Only after 25 days does the female emperor penguin lay her only egg for the entire season. Penguin eggs are quite large, weighing about half a kilogram. Their color is pure white.
The female lays eggs in May-early June. The appearance of such a pair of seabirds is accompanied by shrill, downright jubilant cries. For a certain time, the egg is on the female’s paws, covered on top by a fold of skin at the bottom of the abdomen. Then it passes into the care of the male, while the expectant mother, having starved for 50 days, swims off to the sea for food. By July the penguin returns.
The little chick at this time is still covered with down and will be able to swim only six months after molting. But he is already becoming quite curious, trying to get to know the area around him, and at 3-4 weeks he begins to occasionally leave his parents. Sometimes this can end badly, because penguins are child-loving and are ready to adopt a baby that is a little gape.
Penguin chicks are very different in appearance from mature adults. They are grayish in color, with a white muzzle and a black “cap” on their head. After 6 months, the second downy coat of the chicks is replaced by feathers. The molting period lasts more than one month. During this period of time, juvenile penguins stand motionless in secluded areas, do not eat, and suffer severe losses in body weight. Since the beginning of January, both young and adult emperor penguins have been swimming out to sea.
Maly Imperial, Mramorny, Nikolaevsky, Anichkov - we go for a walk along the central streets of St. Petersburg and remember the palaces in which representatives of the royal family lived. Palace Embankment, 26 House of Scientists (former...
Maly Imperial, Mramorny, Nikolaevsky, Anichkov - we go for a walk along the central streets of St. Petersburg and remember the palaces in which representatives of the royal family lived.
Palace Embankment, 26
House of Scientists (former palace of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich). Architect Alexander Rezanov. 1872.
Let's start our walk from Palace Embankment. A few hundred meters east of the Winter Palace is the palace of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, son of Alexander II. Previously, the building, built in 1870, was called the “small imperial courtyard.” Here, all the interiors have been preserved almost in their original form, reminiscent of one of the main centers of social life in St. Petersburg at the end of the 19th century. Once upon a time, the walls of the palace were decorated with many famous paintings: for example, “Barge Haulers on the Volga” by Ilya Repin hung on the wall of the former billiard room. On the doors and panels there are still monograms with the letter “B” - “Vladimir”.
In 1920, the palace became the House of Scientists, and today the building houses one of the main scientific centers of the city. The palace is open to tourists.
Palace Embankment, 18
Novo-Mikhailovsky Palace. Architect Andrey Stackenschneider. 1857–1862.
A little further on the Palace Embankment you can see the majestic gray Novo-Mikhailovsky Palace. It was erected in 1862 by the famous architect Andrei Stackenschneider for the wedding of the son of Nicholas I, Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich. The new palace, for the reconstruction of which neighboring houses were purchased, incorporated Baroque and Rococo styles, elements of the Renaissance and architecture from the time of Louis XIV. Before the October Revolution, there was a church on the top floor of the main facade.
Today the palace houses institutions of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Millionnaya Street, 5/1
Marble Palace. Architect Antonio Rinaldi. 1768–1785.
Even further on the embankment is the Marble Palace, the family nest of the Konstantinovichs - the son of Nicholas I, Konstantin, and his descendants. It was built in 1785 by the Italian architect Antonio Rinaldi. The palace became the first building in St. Petersburg to be faced with natural stone. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich, known for his poetic works, lived here with his family; in the pre-revolutionary years, his eldest son John lived here. The second son, Gabriel, wrote his memoirs “In the Marble Palace” while in exile.
In 1992, the building was transferred to the Russian Museum.
Admiralteyskaya embankment, 8
Palace of Mikhail Mikhailovich. Architect Maximilian Messmacher. 1885–1891.
Not far from the Winter Palace on Admiralteyskaya Embankment you can see a building in the neo-Renaissance style. It once belonged to Grand Duke Mikhail Mikhailovich, the grandson of Nicholas I. Construction began on it when the Grand Duke decided to get married - his chosen one was the granddaughter of Alexander Pushkin, Sofia Merenberg. Emperor Alexander III did not give consent to the marriage, and the marriage was recognized as morganatic: Mikhail Mikhailovich’s wife did not become a member of the imperial family. The Grand Duke was forced to leave the country without living in the new palace.
Today the palace is rented out to financial companies.
Truda Square, 4
Nikolaevsky Palace. Architect Andrey Stackenschneider. 1853–1861.
If we walk from the Mikhail Mikhailovich Palace to the Annunciation Bridge and turn left, on Labor Square we will see another brainchild of the architect Stackenschneider - the Nicholas Palace. The son of Nicholas I, Nikolai Nikolaevich the Elder, lived in it until 1894. During his life, the building also housed a house church; everyone was allowed to attend services here. In 1895 - after the death of the owner - a women's institute named after Grand Duchess Xenia, sister of Nicholas II, was opened in the palace. Girls were trained to be accountants, housekeepers, and seamstresses.
Today, the building, known in the USSR as the Palace of Labor, hosts excursions, lectures and folk concerts.