Ringed penguin, Bearded penguin, Stonecracker penguin
The chinstrap penguin (Pygoscelis antarcticus ) is a species of penguin that inhabits a variety of islands and shores in the Southern Pacific and the Antarctic Oceans. Its name stems from the narrow black band under its head, which makes it appear as if it were wearing a black helmet, making it easy to identify. The Chinstrap penguin is also known as Ringed penguin, Bearded penguin, and Stonecracker penguin, due to its loud, harsh call.
The adult Chinstrap's flippers are black with a white edge; the inner sides of the flippers are white. The face is white extending behind the eyes, which are reddish brown; the chin and throat are white, as well, while the short bill is black. The strong legs and the webbed feet are pink. Its short, stumpy legs give it a distinct waddle when it walks. The Chinstrap penguin's black back and white underside provide camouflage in the form of countershading when viewed from above or below, helping to avoid detection by its predators. Males are greater in weight and height than females.
Chinstrap penguins breed in Antarctica, Argentina, Bouvet Island, Chile, the French Southern Territories, and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. They live along coastlines as well as on islands and icebergs.
Chinstrap penguins are highly social birds, gathering in large colonies, where they live and breed. These near-shore feeders forage in water among large pieces of floating ice or in the open sea. By the midnight and noon, they dive to catch fish and krill, remaining under the surface less than a minute. The flippers of these birds help them "fly" when swimming under the water. Coming out of the water, they use all four limbs to climb up steep slopes. When on land, they often slide on their stomachs over the ice surface, using their flippers and feet to propel themselves. In addition, these penguins can make quite long jumps. During the winter months, from March to the beginning of May, Chintstrap penguins usually leave their colonies, moving north along the pack ice.
Chinstrap penguins are carnivores (piscivores). They have a very simple diet, typically consisting of aquatic animals such as small fish and roaming marine crustaceans, including krill.
Chinstrap penguins are normally monogamous and form pairs. Every year, they come to the same breeding grounds, forming large colonies of up to 100,000 pairs. Usually, males return about 5 days before females in order to prepare the nest. They try to find the cavity in the rock, which served them as a nest during the previous breeding season. Finding the nesting site, the male rebuilds and fixes it, using rocks and bones. The mating season lasts from November to December. Typically, two eggs are laid and incubated for 37 days. Both the male and the female participate in incubating, taking turns every six days. The hatchlings remain in the nest with their parents, until they reach the age of 1 month, joining a crèche of other chicks. Then, after around 7-9 weeks, when the young molt, attaining their adult plumage, they are ready to go out to sea.
The primary threat to this species is global warming, leading to environmental changes, which negatively affect the population of these penguins. Another concern in commercial fishing, reducing the number of fish populations they consume, especially in the Southern Ocean region. In addition, the penguins are occasionally entangled and captured in fishing nets.
According to the IUCN Red List, the total population size of the Chinstrap penguin is 8 million individuals or 4 million breeding pairs. Currently, this species is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List but its numbers today are decreasing.
Feeding upon krill and fish, the Chinstrap penguins control numbers of these species populations.
