What is special about Magellanic penguins?
One of 18 penguin species, the Magellanic penguin is known for its black body and white belly, countershading that helps it avoid predators while swimming. Penguins’ bodies are ideal for swimming, thanks to their streamlined body shape that tapers at both ends, webbed feet, and long flippers that help them paddle.
How long do Magellan penguins live?
Magellanic penguins reach sexual maturity as early as age three, but most females do not breed until age four, and most males do not breed until age five. Many individuals live to be 20 years old, and some have lived as long as 30 years.
What eats Magellanic penguin?
Predators include Southern sea lions, leopard seals, Patagonian foxes, and killer whales. Eggs and chicks face predators such as kelp gulls and lesser grisons.
Who first saw penguins?
there are birds as big as ducks, but they cannot fly and bray like donkeys.” Some say that the crew of the expedition of Bartolomeu Dias de Novaes were the first to observe penguins, sometime between 1487 and 1488.
Did Magellan discover penguins?
The Magellanic penguin was named after Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who spotted the birds in 1520. The species is listed as being of Least Concern by the IUCN.
What do penguins eat facts?
Penguins eat krill, squids, and fishes. Their diet varies slightly on the species of penguins, which have slightly different food preferences. This reduces competition among species. The smaller penguin species of the Antarctic and the subantarctic primarily feed on krill and squids.
Which penguin is named after Magellan?
Magellanic Penguins
Magellanic Penguins were named after the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who was the first to sail from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean in the mid-1500s through what is now called the Strait of Magellan.
Did Magellan see penguins?