King Penguins

King Penguins

King Penguin - Aptenodytes Patagonicus

	Distinguishing features
	Sub-species
	Height & Weight

	Breeding locations
	Nesting Behaviour
	Principal Diet

Alternative names

Distinguishing features Second largest of the penguins, King penguins have an orange yellow patch on their chests and greyish black backs. A King could only be confused with an Emperor penguin, but the location should be a give away. Emperors are only found on and around the Antarctic continent; Kings are found further north on sub-Antarctic islands. To tell an Emperor from a King notice that the tear-drop shaped ear patches are yellow on Emperors and are open. Kings have orange ear patches that are closed. Chicks can grow larger (heavier adn fatter, but not taller) than their parents and usually have a uniform brown plumage, some chicks have a silver grey plumage. Early explorers thought king chicks were a separate species - the Woolly penguin. Photos of King penguins return to top of page
Sub-species Two sub-species have been suggested, A. p. patagonicus from South Georgia and the Falkands, and A. p. halli from Kerguelen, Crozet, Heard, Prince Edward and Macquarie Islands. However, significant size variations occur between all the island groups and most populations from the different islands are genetically isolated from one another. return to top of page
Height & Weight Adult King penguins are typically 90 cm tall. Juveniles are slightly shorter, only about 80 cm. Males and females both weigh 15 - 16 kg at the beginning of courtship, but females lose more weight so that by the end of the courtship period males weigh 13kg , and females around 11kg. return to top of page
Breeding locations
	King penguins breed in large colonies on many sub-Antarctic islands. Currently there are more than 80 known colonies. Notable colonies are on Crozet Island, Prince Edward Island, Kerguelen Island, South Georgia and Macquarie Island. The total breeding population is estimated to be well over 1,000,000 pairs. At present the population of King penguins is thought to be increasing throughout its range.. On the map the different coloured dots indicate the breeding locations of the two sub-species. Pale yellow dots represent A. p. patagonicus and orange dots indicate A. p. halli.
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Nesting behaviour King penguins have a unique breeding cycle. It takes 14 to 16 months to complete egg laying and chick rearing. So most pairs raise chicks at most twice in a three year period. The breeding cycle starts with adults coming ashore to moult and then returning to sea for 20 days to regain body reserves. The females lay a single egg which is incubated on the parents feet, both parents take turns to incubate the egg during the 54 day incubation period. The chicks remain with the parents for 30 to 40 days until they are large enough to join creches, at which time both parents go to sea to fetch food for the growing chicks. The chicks finally moult into their sub-adult plumage and go to sea at the age of 10 to 13 months. return to top of page
Principal diet King penguins diet consists almost entirely of fish with only a very few squid and crustaceans being eaten. return to top of page
Alternative names As far as we know there are no alternative names for King penguins. If you know of any please send us an email. return to top of page

Bibliography

Penguins John Sparks and Tony Soper, Facts on File Publications, Oxford, 1987.

Penguins of the World Pauline Reilly, OUP, Oxford, 1994.

The Penguins Tony D Williams, OUP, Oxford, 1995.

Penguin CAMP reports, IUCN, 1998 and 2004.