King Penguins on Saunders Island in the Falklands
The king penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus) is the second largest species of penguin. In size it is second only to the emperor penguin. There are two subspecies—A. p. patagonicus and A. p. halli; patagonicus is found in the South Atlantic and halli elsewhere. King penguins eat small fish, mainly lanternfish, and squid and rely less than most Southern Ocean predators on krill and other crustaceans. On foraging trips they repeatedly dive to over 100 metres (330 ft), and have been recorded at depths greater than 300 metres (980 ft). King penguins breed on the subantarctic islands at the northern reaches of Antarctica, South Georgia, and other temperate islands of the region. The king penguin stands at 70 to 100 cm (28 to 39 in) tall and weighs from to 18 kg (21 to 40 lb). Males are slightly larger than females. The mean body mass of adults from Marion Island was kg (27 lb) for 70 males and kg (24 lb) for 71 females. Another study from Marion Island found that the mean mass of 33 adults feeding chicks was kg (29 lb). Thus the average weight of the king penguin is similar or just slightly higher than that of the largest living flying birds. The plumage of the king penguin is broadly similar to that of the closely-related emperor penguin, with a broad cheek patch contrasting with surrounding dark feathers and yellow-orange color at the top of the chest, however the cheek patch of the adult king penguin is bright orange whereas that of the emperor penguins is white, while the chest orange tends to be more vivid and less yellowish in the king species. Both species have colorful markings along the side of their lower mandible, but these are pinkish in emperor penguins and orange in king penguins. Emperor and king penguins do not occur together in the wild typically, with the possible exception of vagrants at sea, but the emperor can readily be distinguished by being noticeably larger and bulkier.
Size: 3456px × 5184px
Location: Saunders Island Falklands
Photo credit: © Philip Jones / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., _d, aptenodytes, atlantic, birds, chicks, falkland, falklands, island, islands, king, malvinas, neck, patagonica, penguin, penguins, pt, saunder, south, vertical
