Macaroni Penguins Research Paper

What is the Macaroni Penguin?

The Macaroni Penguin is an ample species of the penguin species. It stands around two feet tall (a little larger than most penguins) and weighs about ten to twelve pounds. It has yellow-orange feather plumes on its head, a white face, white belly and black body. They are found in the Antarctic regions and migrate to many islands around that area.

Feeding and Diet

The Macaroni Penguins are found living in rocky water-bound areas. They live on high rocks and cliffs above the ocean. The Macaroni Penguins are carnivores. There favorite foods are fish, squid, krill, and crustaceans. These penguins fish majority of their time and spend six months in the cold oceans where they continuously hunt for food. They will do this during the colder months of the winter. They fish during this time because they are more protected from the rancorous winters that occurs on land of the Antarctic.

Breeding

The Macaroni Penguin will return to land as temperatures in the South Pole increase and summer approaches in order to breed. Unlike what we generally know about penguins, that the father will incubate and raise the egg while the mother leaves to find food is not the case with Macaroni Penguins. Macaroni Penguins breed in colonies. They create nests out of small stones and pebbles. The mother penguin

The species that prey on these penguins are limited due to the freezing cold temperatures in the Antarctic. The natural predators that pose a huge threat are killer whales, the passing shark, and the most common is the leopard seal. Besides the natural predators there are other situations that pose threats towards Macaroni Penguins such as the rising of sea surface temperatures due to global warming. Rising of temperatures can cause Macaroni Penguin’s food supply to decrease, therefore leading them to starvation. Lastly, oil spills and water contaminants pose a huge threat to Macaroni