South African Penguin
- Kingdom : Animalia
- Phylum : Chordata
- Subphylum : Vertebrata
- Class : Aves
- Order : Spheniscidae
- Family : Spheniscidae
- Genus : Spheniscus
- Species : Demersus
African Penguins (Spheniscus Demersus) also called as Black-footed Penguins are ancient, flightless, aquatic birds probably evolved 65 million years ago. They are about 68cm (19.7 inches) in length and 2.1 – 3.7kg (4.63 - 8.16 pounds) in weight. It is gradually present in south-western coast of African islands between Namibia and Algoa Bay, near Port Elizabeth (South Africa).
African Penguins feed mainly on pelagic fish (fish that swim on the upper layer of ocean). As an average Penguin will eat between 300g and up to 1kg based on their moulting or when feeding chicks. There are seventeen species all through the world but African Penguin is the only one having habitat in African continent and its inshore islands.
The African Penguin’s braying sound on land is like donkeys, for this reason it can also be called as Jackass Penguin. It can be distinguished either as male or female, only by their size. Male penguins are lightly larger and have longer bills than female.
African Penguin can start breeding usually at the age of 4. It can stay behind with a single partner for many years thereby producing one or two eggs a year. If procreation has failed then only they separate normally. They can breed largely in March to May and the incubation period lasts for forty days. |
