About Chinstrap Penguins

Chinstrap penguins, or Pygoscelis antarctica, are among the most unique and endearing of all penguins. Because of their features, they are easily recognizable, even by those who are novice animal lovers. They are also among the most numerous in the animal kingdom.
However, like all penguins, they face an uphill battle for survival. As global warming takes habitat away from them, and eco-tourism's true impacts are just beginning to be understood, even seemingly stable populations of penguins are susceptible to outside influences.

Identification

Though chinstrap penguins are not easily identifiable by their size, like large emperor penguins, their distinguishing characteristic is the black line of feathers that run down the side of their face and under their black beak. It makes for a striking characteristic on an otherwise white face and looks like a chinstrap, thus giving the penguin its name.Along with the royal penguins, chinstrap penguins are the only breeds that have white faces. Most other breeds, of course, have distinctly black faces.

Size

Chinstrap penguins fall squarely in the middle of the pack when it comes to sizes of penguin breeds. Males generally top out at approximately 11 pounds (5 kilograms). Females usually run slightly smaller at 10.5 pounds (4.8 kg). They generally range from 28 to 30 inches (71 to 76 cms) tall. By comparison, emperor penguins run more than a foot taller. Chinstrap penguins live an average of 15 to 20 years and reach sexual maturity by the time they are five years old.

Geography

Chinstrap penguins often stay on the many different islands surrounding the Antarctic continent. However, some also live on the main continent itself. In addition to Antarctica, they are also commonly seen on the South Sandwich Islands, South Shetland, South Orkneys, South Georgia and many others. Many of the islands chinstrap penguins inhabit are located near the area in between the southern tip of Africa and Antarctica.

The Facts

Chinstraps often congregate in huge colonies that contain thousands of individuals. Mating and nesting often occurs on rocky outcrops and hillside slopes that are often hard to get to, especially for most predators in the region. The main diet of chinstrap penguins is krill. Though chinstrap penguins are mostly seen in the areas previously mentioned, some have been spotted as far north as the tip of South America or even Australia. Though they aren't considered truly migratory, chinstrap penguins do migrate north in the winter past the pack ice in search of open water, returning to the breeding grounds in the spring.

Features

Though the face of a chinstrap penguin is white, the top of the head is black. With the chinstrap, some say it looks as though it is wearing a helmet. It is considered one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful, of all penguin species. In addition to their white faces, they are easily identifiable by the massive numbers, especially on the South Sandwich Islands where they are seen by the tens of thousands.

The unique line running under the chins of the penguins has given them a number of other names as well. In some cases, they can be called bearded penguins, ringed penguins and stonecracker penguins.

Risk Factors

Though the species is not considered threatened or endangered, it does face some serious pressures, especially as global warming begins to take its toll on the far reaches of the Southern Hemisphere. In fact, some populations of penguins are already declining and scientists are trying to determine if that may be due to global warming. It is also possible that global warming could help the penguins, by not requiring them to go so far in the winter to get past the pack ice. However, warmer temperatures are generally not regarded as a positive development for the chinstrap penguins, or any other species of penguin.

Other than environment, there is little else that really threatens the population as a whole. Chinstrap penguins are hunted by a number of marine predators, with killer whales and leopard seals among their biggest hazards.