The Little Penguin Life Cycle the Little Blue Penguin Gif

julho 18, 2022 Postar um comentário

Eudyptula minor, by fir0002, GFDL 1.2

Genus Name: Eudyptula

Status: Extant

First Described: 1856

Described By; Bonaparte

Classification: Dinosauria, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Neognathae, Neoaves, Aequorlitornithes, Ardeae, Aequornithes, Austrodyptornithes, Sphenisciformes, Spheniscidae, Spheniscinae

Referred Species: E. minor, E. novaehollandiae, E. albosignata

The Little Penguin, Eudyptula (Good Little Diver), is the smallest genus of penguin, known by quite a few common names, from Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, and the Chatham Islands. There are two definite species - E. minor, the Little Blue Penguin, and E. novaehollandiae, the Australian Little Penguin. These animals are also known as Fairy Penguins, and Kororaa by the Māori people. The oldest known fossils of the genus come from about 0.126 million years ago, meaning that this penguin type diverged from its relatives fairly recently. E. albosignata was long thought to be a distinct genus, prior to mitochondrial DNA studies revealing that it was a subspecies of E. minor. Still, it is called the White-Flippered penguin, and is a distinct morph from the main Little Penguin type.

By JJ Harrison, CC BY-SA 3.0

E. minor, the Little Blue Penguin, is the smallest species of penguin. It grows to be about 33 cm in height and 43 cm long. It lives in along the coasts of southern Australia, New Zealand, and colonies are even known from Chile and South Africa, but it is uncertain whether or not those are just accidental colonies. There are probably around 350,000 to 600,000 individuals of the species worldwide, though they are threatened in certain areas (and certain species are also threatened.)

By JJ Harrison, CC BY-SA 3.0

It's head and back are blue in color, with grey to white feathers covering the underside of the body. They have dark grey to black beaks, and pale silver to blue grey or hazel eyes. They have pink feet with black soles and webbing. They live about 6.5 years, but in captivity they can even live up to 25 years long. For the most part, they live in nesting colonies, and are diurnal, spending most of the day swimming and foraging at sea. During the breeding season, they leave their nest at sunrise, forage throughout the day, and return to their nests after dark - they plan their whole day by the cycle of moon and sun light. They also preen their feathers to keep themselves waterproof by rubbing tiny drops of oil onto every feather from a gland above their tails.

They eat small fish, cephalopods, and crustaceans, diving and swimming far out tos ea to get them. Sardines also feature greatly in their diets, and they were affected ecologically by the sardine morality events in the 1990s. Their dives typically don't go any deeper than 2 meters, and they dive for only about 21 seconds at a time, but some can dive up to 20 meters deep and remain submerged for an entire minute. They are a predator to parasites and are also a host to mites that feed on their preening oil.

By Glen Fergus, CC BY-SA 2.5

The females mature at 2 years of age, and the males at 3 years; they mate monogamously for one breeding season, but switch burrows when eggs aren't being tended to. They do, however, keep to the same nesting colony throughout their lives. The nests are close to the sea, in burrows or in caves and rock crevices. The mated pairs share duties during child-rearing, including incubation and taking care of the chicks. They are also the only penguins that produce more than one clutch of eggs per breeding season, but this happens infrequently. The breeding season also varies depending on the colony location; Eastern Australians lays their eggs from July through December, where in South Australia they lay eggs between April and October.

From http://www.factzoo.com/birds/little-penguin-little-blue-fairy.html

The eggs are white or lightly mottled brown, and they incubate for 36 days. The chicks are then brooded for 18 to 38 days, and they fledge after 7 to 8 weeks. The chicks are fed at dusk, and the birds all come to shore to defend against predators that might try and pick off the babies. Sadly, these birds are threatened by human development, interference, and fishing; as well as pollution and predation from non-natural predators introduced by humans.

E. m. albosignata, by R. Roscoe, CC BY-SA 3.0

The white-flippered variant of E. minor, E. albosignata or E. minor albosignata, is similar in size to E. minor, but has white markings on its flippers and are more grey in color. They also differ in behavior: they are nocturnal, and stay with the colony during the day, and then leave during darkness and return before dawn. They lay eggs from July to December, laid in burrows under the tree brush, as well as in dunes. They incubate their eggs from 33 to 39 days, and the chicks fledge after 50 to 65 days. They feed on fish and cephalopods, and utilize pursuit diving to catch their food.

E. novaehollandiae, From https://leesbird.com/spheniscidae/

E. novaehollandiae, or the Australian Little Penguin, is considered a completely distinct species; and its main range is in Australia, though it also exists in New Zealand. It is distinguishable by having brighter blue feathers, and different vocalizations, and they behave differently as well: they swim together in large groups after dusk and walk along the short to reach nesting sites, probably as a strategy to avoid predators. They also double brood - laying another clutch after the first has fledged.