1. Their Reproduction Practices Are Very Particular
Gentoo penguins tend to live in large colonies and breed in arid, grassy areas on land. These ecosystems could exist in close proximity to the coast or farther inland. Pebble nests are practically spherical, measuring 9.8 inches in diameter, and can stack as high as almost 8 inches. The penguins are extremely protective of the pebbles in and around their nests. The female lays 2 eggs, weighing around 130 grams each, and both parents take turns incubating them. The eggs begin to hatch after about a month, and the chicks enter the water between 80 and 100 days after hatching.
2. They Prefer To Inhabit Areas That Are Only Partially Covered By Ice Or Have None
They live throughout the lowlands and mountains of the southern continent, as well as the surrounding islands and ice shelves. They can be found in the Antarctic Peninsula and southern islands such as:
Bird IslandFalklandsKerguelenMacquarieSouth GeorgiaSouth OrkneyStaten
3. Gentoo Penguins Are Known For Their Courtship
The Gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis Papua) are a distinctive species of penguins well known for their pebble-giving behavior during courting. These penguins’ courtship rituals and nesting operations are fascinating to observe. It is common for males to collect pebbles in their beaks and give them to the female in exchange for favors from the now-pleased female.
4. They Are Incredibly Fast Swimmers
Gentoo penguins, capable of diving to a depth of 300 feet and reaching speeds of 20 mph, are the fastest swimmers among the 17 species of penguins. The Gentoos are the fastest underwater swimmers in the world, swimming at a rate of about 36 km/h because of their robust flippers and incredibly streamlined bodies.
5. Gentoo Penguins Have Many Predators
Gentoo penguins are exposed to dangers as they wander into the water in search of food. They stand a good risk of becoming prey when sea lions, orcas, and sea leopards cruise the waters close to penguin-inhabited territory to snag a penguin. Except for humans, who have been known to hunt these animals for their meat and oil, adult penguins rarely have any predators on land.
6. Besides Being Hunted, They Face Other Threats
Climate change and global warming are currently the biggest challenges facing Gentoo communities. Because of melting Antarctic ice and rising sea levels, the locations where these penguins dwell are becoming increasingly inaccessible. The number of Gentoo penguins living in South Georgia and Bird Island is now only a third of what it was twenty-five years ago. As a result, the IUCN now considers these penguins to be in the “Near Threatened” category.
7. Gentoo Penguins Have A Unique Feeding Behavior
Being opportunistic eaters, the Gentoo penguins’ diet is greatly influenced by the season and their surroundings. The majority of their diet consists of tiny crustaceans like krill. These birds have a diet mainly reliant on benthic seafood, and Penguins occasionally consume squid.
8. Gentoo Penguins Are Decent Divers
Though they have been seen swimming up to 26 kilometers inland in search of food, penguins normally scavenge for food in the waters around the beach. The penguins routinely dive to a depth of around 655 feet in search of food and can stay below for about 7 minutes at a time.
9. Gentoo Penguins Are Usually Friendly
Apart from guarding their nests or eggs, these penguins are incredibly social and hardly ever behave aggressively toward one another or penguins of other species. Gentoo penguins spend most of their lives close to their breeding grounds.
10. Gentoo Penguins Molt at Certain Times of Year
The pre-molting and molting stages occur in various months, depending on where the animal is on the planet. Pre-molting can persist anywhere from 20 to 40 days, depending on the locality, but it can even last twice as long. They undergo a process known as molting, which lasts around 25 days, between December and March, during which they lose between 40 and 55 percent of their body mass.
