King Penguin. by blinkings

Photography • Animals • posted on Aug 28, 2016

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Description

King penguins are one of the most visually-stunning creatures in Antarctica – with their bright yellow-orange features on their upper chest, orange tear-drop shaped ear patches and grey-black backs. Kings are the second largest penguin, behind the Emperor species, reaching a height of 85 to 95 centimeters and a weight of about 14 to 16.5 kilograms. These special birds have two different and extremely effective insulation methods. King penguins have layers of feathering to keep them sheltered from the elements, with an inner layer of down feathers acting as heavy-duty insulators and the outer layer being waterproofed by a cover of oil, not unlike the feathering of a duck. In addition, they also have a complex heat exchange system in their nasal passageway that allows them to recapture 80% of the heat that would normally be lost every time they exhaled. They also have specialized tongues that are covered with lots of small spines that all point backward into the throat, so that when they catch a fish it is gripped by the spines and cannot escape.