Different Types of Penguins

The emperor penguin is the largest of penguins and can be as tall as 4 ft and weigh as much as 48-98 pounds. The back side and the head of these penguins is black, their belly white and their breast and ears, bright yellow. They adapt to the cold weather better than other penguins with their feathers providing excellent insulation.

Emperor penguins are the only penguins in the Antarctic that breed in the winter and they sometimes travel as far as 75 miles to find a breeding colony. Pictured here is their life cycle.

Upon diving into deep water, the emperor penguin encounters pressure about 40 times that of the surface of the water. Yet their bones allow them to do so without the risk of trauma. At this depth their oxygen levels go way down as does their heart rate but they are able to do so without losing consciousness.

Photo: shows depth of the penguin dives in comparison to a human

The gentoo penguin can be recognized for its wide white stripe which extends across it's head. The adult gentoo is the third largest penguin after the Emperor and King species. The males generally weigh around 18 pounds, the females around 10. The Gentoos generally mate in the Falkand Islands and Heard Islands, and other places which are considered to be a sub-Antarctic island.

The Macaroni penguin is one of the crested penguins. They are found from the subanarctic to the antarctic. They are closely related to the Royal penguin. These penguins can have a yellow or orange crest on their heads and are black and white elsewhere, with a distinct separation between the colors. They are generally a little over 2 feet tall and weight between 7 and 15 pounds. A very social animal the macaroni penguin has one of the largest breeding grounds of penguins.

African penguins are found on the southwestern coast of Africa. These penguins are also called black-footed penguins. These penguins can be around 2 feet tall and weigh approximately 4 to 11 pounds. They have black stripes, black spots on their chest and a little pink above their eyes.

They breed all year long, usually starting in February. They are the only penguins that breed in Africa and Africa is the only place they are found.

Royal penguins are found in the waters of Antarctica. They are similar in look to the macaroni penguins but their chins are white.These penguins are also members of the crested penguins. They breed only on Macquarie Island and spend a great deal of time at sea.

There is some thought that the Royal Penguin may be a sub species of the Macaroni penguin given their similarities.

A rookery is the name given to a colony of breeding animals, in this case Penguins, pictured here on Macquarie Island.

Penguins who are born with brown feathers instead of black are known as Isabelline Penguins. About 1 in 50,000 penguins born are Isabelline. For some reason, these penguins live shorter lives than their black counterparts. It is thought that their color makes it more difficult to hide from predators, and that they have less of a chance of finding a mate.