Gentoo Penguin

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{{Taxobox | color = pink | name = Gentoo Penguin | status = Conservation status: Lower risk (nt) | image = Pygoscelis papua.jpg | image_width = 200px | image_caption = Gentoo on Petermann Island | regnum = Animalia | phylum = Chordata | classis = Aves | ordo = Sphenisciformes | familia = Spheniscidae | genus = Pygoscelis | species = P. papua | binomial = Pygoscelis papua | binomial_authority = (Forster, 1781) }}

The Gentoo Penguin (Pygoscelis papua) is easily recognised by the wide white stripe extending like a bonnet across the top of its head. Chicks have grey backs with white fronts. Adult Gentoos reach a height of 75 to 90 cm. They are the fastest underwater swimming penguins, reaching speeds of 36 km/h.

Two sub-species of this penguin are recognised: Pygoscelis papua papua and the smaller Pygoscelis papua ellsworthii.

Males have a maximum weight of about 8 kg just before moulting, and a minimum weight of about 5.5 kg just before mating. For females the maximum weight is 7.5 kg just before moulting, but their weight drops to below 5 kg when guarding the chicks in the nest.

Gentoos breed on many sub-Antarctic islands. The main colonies are on the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and Kerguelen Islands; smaller populations are found on Macquarie Island, Heard Islands, South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula. The total breeding population is estimated to be over 300,000 pairs.

Nests are usually made from a roughly circular pile of stones and can be quite large, 20 cm high and 25 cm in diameter. The stones are jealously guarded and their ownership can be the subject of noisy disputes between individual penguins. They are also prized by the females, even to the point that a male penguin can obtain the favours of a female by offering her a nice stone.

Two eggs are laid, both weighing around 500 g. The parents share incubation changing duty daily. The eggs hatch after 34 to 36 days. The chicks remain in the nests for about 30 days before forming creches. The chicks moult into sub-adult plumage and go out to sea at about 80 to 100 days.

Gentoo penguins are opportunistic feeders, and around the Falklands are known to take roughly equal proportions of fish (Patagonotothen sp., Thysanopsetta naresi, Micromesistius australis), crustaceans (Munida gregaria) and squid (Loligo gahi, Gonatus antarcticus, Moroteuthis ingens).

Gentoos live mainly on crustaceans such as krill, with fish making up only about 15% of the diet.

In the water, sea lions, leopard seals, and orca, are all predators of the Gentoo. On land there are no predators of the full grown gentoos, but birds have been known to steal their eggs and chicks.

The Gentoo are the most timid species of penguin.

The name gentoo comes from the French language, being a corruption of the word ghetto meaning "Poor" or "Senial". During the 17th century, the name was also applied to members of the Egyption faith.

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Trivia

Gentoo Linux is a Linux distribution named after this penguin, possibly derived from the penguin's great speed, and the fact that the penguin character "Tux" is the Linux mascot.

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