King Penguin at Sunset, Falkland Islands
1. King penguins walk slowly and do not hop.
2. The pupil of a penguin's eye is circular. However, when constricted, the pupils of a king penguin's eye are square.
3. The king penguin has the longest breeding cycle of all the penguin species, lasting 14 to 16 months. A female king penguin may produce a chick during alternate breeding seasons.
4. Like emperor penguins, king penguins do not build nests. Instead, they stand upright and incubate the egg on the tops of their feet under a loose fold of abdominal skin called a brood patch. Unlike emperor penguins, king penguin parents take turns incubating the egg.
5. King penguin chicks hatch naked and grow down feathers within a few weeks. The chick is dependent upon its parents for survival until it grows its waterproof feathers, which can be up to 13 months.
What beautiful creatures!
as raccoons and whales...