Penguin Watch Talk

King Penguins

  • gardenmaeve by gardenmaeve moderator

    Zilli asks why we don't see the young King chicks when counting. (Her wording was very funny: "But shouldn't we see some Young running around? Or do they leave their fathers pouch the size of a bear Skin cap?" 😄 😄)

    I posted some information and several links, and have moved some of them here. I'll continue to edit these entries of mine for accuracy.

    The egg, and then the young, must stay on the parent's feet under his or her brood patch for some time after hatching, until the bare little chick is fully covered with the warm down. Sometimes the photos here allow us to see some of the younger chicks, but only after they can regulate their own temperature. Once the chicks can walk around on their own, parents both go to sea.

    It can take 14-16 months to become adults, so King penguins may only raise a single chick every 1 1/2 - 2 years and that means there might be two chicks (one at a time) from a mated pair every three years! Some adults lay early in the season, others lay eggs very late, and the living is very hard for those late chicks.

    Each single chick might be fed only every 1-5 months. They stay in the creche group for warmth and safety while their parents are at sea hunting for food, and the chicks in the creche help keep the group warm because there are so many standing together.

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  • gardenmaeve by gardenmaeve moderator

    There is more information here:
    Click here

    You can see very young King chicks here at a zoo King chicks have little or no down at first, so they must stay safely under a parent's brood patch and abdominal flap until their own brown down covers them completely.

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  • AvastMH by AvastMH moderator

    Thank you very much @gardenmaeve..it's good to understand the King chicks 😃

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  • gardenmaeve by gardenmaeve moderator

    My pleasure, @AvastMH.

    I think it's easy to forget that the King chicks hatch naked, without down. It would take just minutes- sometimes seconds- of cold air for such a chick to die of exposure.

    After several weeks of protection on the parents' feet and under the belly, the single King chick grows the familiar brown down that will protect it from extremes of temperature. Yet by the time chicks are in creches, feedings might be three or months apart, sometimes with fierce winter weather in between. The chicks may loose 50% of their body weight and still survive if a parent can return to feed it.

    Edited for accuracy: [As it is, of the *two eggs laid by the female and brooded on both adults' feet, in turns, only one usually makes it to hatching. (*Although I found the previous information earlier, in re-reading I am not satisfied with the factual content- I have not found any other source suggesting that King penguins lay more than one egg per season.) ]

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  • AvastMH by AvastMH moderator

    Well that's also interesting because it's noticeable that we simply do not see King chick feeding in the same numbers as we see with the Pygoscelids and Eudyptids (Adelies, Chinstraps, Gentoos, Rockhoppers & Macaronis) 😃

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  • GizmoMischief by GizmoMischief

    Wow, now that's amazing.... that in those extremes of temperature, we get penguin chicks hatching naked. As far as I know all other penguin species hatch with a velvety sort of down and then develop the secondary very fluffy (and very tatty) down before moulting into juvenile feathers.

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  • gardenmaeve by gardenmaeve moderator

    Closely related Emperor chicks also hatch naked or nearly so. Like the King chicks, they must be protected on their parents' feet under the abdominal flap until down grows and the chick can begin to self- regulate its temperature.

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  • gardenmaeve by gardenmaeve moderator

    Another site: King penguin information There is a little slide show showing an egg being laid, a newly hatched chick, and further stages of development on the way to the first adult plumage.

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  • yshish by yshish moderator, translator

    Thanks @gardenmaeve for taking time to reply to that question. Hope you don't mind that I moved this thread under the FAQs board to make it searchable more easily 😃

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  • gardenmaeve by gardenmaeve moderator

    Hi, @yshish! Of course I don't mind. Thank you. 😃😃

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  • gardenmaeve by gardenmaeve moderator

    Here are two good links from an earlier discussion of one of the King penguin photos:
    "There are a couple of views of King eggs showing briefly during incubation at this site, about 1/3 down the page: "
    See King eggs in the wild

    "Here are photos and video of a King chick from hatching to knee high: "
    See a King chick hatch and grow

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  • gardenmaeve by gardenmaeve moderator

    At last, here's a view of a very young down-covered King chick we can see on Penguin Watch: Tiny King Chick

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  • bonnieg by bonnieg

    Hi, I have always wondered why the King and Emperor chicks have such different plumage/down colouration. Is it environmental - for camouflage?
    I've search in many books to no avail.

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  • yshish by yshish moderator, translator in response to bonnieg's comment.

    Just guessing here, but I think you are correct that it is due to the environmental differences. King penguins are breeding on the ground (muddy brown colour), whereas Emperors are breeding on sea ice (pale grey colour).

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  • gardenmaeve by gardenmaeve moderator

    Also, the more dramatic facial markings of Emperor chicks are thought by some to make them more visible to their parents, so I have read.

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  • gardenmaeve by gardenmaeve moderator

    Stunning photos by Mike Reyfman of King rookeries at Saint Andrews Bay and Salisbury Plain

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  • gardenmaeve by gardenmaeve moderator

    More excellent photos at the following link. Moulting comparison, King penguins Note : halfway down the page are two series of photos showing adults, then chicks moulting. The comparison is helpful for those marking King rookeries and needing pointers for making penguin age determinations. (Of course when in doubt mark as adult, as always).

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