BLACK-FOOTED PENGUIN

BLACK-FOOTED PENGUIN

Scientific name: Spheniscus demersus
Class: Aves
Order: Sphenisciformes
Family: Spheniscidae
Genus: Spheniscus

Description:
The black-footed or “jackass” penguins are black on their dorsal side, face, flippers, and the top of their head. Their entire ventral side and lateral parts of the head and torso are white. Along the chest and sides are black horseshoe-shaped stripes. The body of the black-footed penguin is shaped like a bowling pin and its feet are webbed.

Lifespan:
Usually around 10 to 11 years.

Size:
The black-footed penguin ranges from 30 to 70 cm (24 in.) in height.

Diet:
The entire diet of the black-footed penguin is marine. The penguin is known to eat twenty-five species of fish, eighteen species of crustaceans and three species of squid. Forty-two percent of its diet is made up of fish.

Geographic Range:
The black-footed penguin is found only off the coast of South Africa. They breed on twenty-four islands offshore between Namibia and Port Elizabeth, South Africa. On the mainland, there are colonies of penguins at Betty's Bay and Simonstown, South Africa, and in Namibia.

Habitat:
The black-footed penguin lives in the warmer latitudes between twenty and forty degrees south. This is not the only penguin species that lives in warmer climates. There are several other species that live on the warm shores of New Zealand, South America, and the Galapagos Islands. When they aren't in the tropical waters hunting for food, they live on the rocky shores where they reproduce and take care of their young.

Reproduction:
Black-footed penguins lay two or three eggs at a time. There is not much vegetation on these shores so they must make their nests from hardened guano. Both parents care for the young in nests that the adults make or in burrows that they find. The incubation period starts anywhere from mid-November to early December and continues for five weeks. These penguins may use a special fold of skin extending from the stomach to cover the eggs and keep them warm. After hatching, the offspring are fed by regurgitation and watched over for eight weeks.

Behavior:
When parents stop taking care of the young, they must learn to fend for themselves. Upon reaching maturity (of which only 40% ever do) they find a mate and remain with them for the rest of their lives. However, while nurturing the young the adults may live a more secluded life. The adults, when hunting in the sea, live in groups of fifty to one hundred. These penguins live and hunt together and may look for food 50 km from their nesting grounds. Black-footed penguins are able to get this far from shore because they can swim up to 7 km per hour. They can communicate by squawking; in fact these penguins got the nickname “jackass” from their loud braying calls.

Natural History:
This species is especially susceptible to germs but in particular Aspergilosis, a disease of the respiratory pathway caused by mold.

Special Adaptations:
This penguin’s beak has longitudinal grooves used for digging, and which allow excess salt swallowed by the penguin to be excreted by glands in the nostrils to drip down and leave the body. A waterproof undercoat protects a layer of air trapped around the body which helps the penguins retain heat. Their streamlined bodies and solid bones (most birds have hollow bones for flight) make them excellent swimmers and divers.

Current Status:
At the present, there are 120,000 individuals left in the wild. This number is down ninety percent from sixty years ago. The biggest threats now to the black-footed penguin are oil spills, over fishing of surrounding waters by people, and natural competition and predatation from seals and straw-necked ibis. Some fisherman claim that these penguins compete with them for fish, but because of the small size of the animal and the relatively small populations remaining, they consume only around 2900 tons of fish yearly. This number is too small to be detrimental to fishermen.

Trivia:
These penguins are a good source of guano, which is used to make fertilizer.