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Gentoo Penguins
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Gentoo Penguin
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Gentoo penguins can be identified by the wide white stripe that stretches across the top of their head. It looks like a bonnet stretching from eye to eye. The chicks have grey feathers instead of black ones on their backs. They have white fronts like their parents. Adult penguins can grow from 75 cm to 90 cm tall. Males can weigh up to 8 kg. Females can weigh up to 7.5 kg. |
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Most Gentoo penguins can be found on the Falkland Islands. But they go to islands near Antarctica to make nests for their eggs. The dots on the map are places where the two types of Gentoo penguins go to lay their eggs. There may be as many as 300,00 pairs of Gentoo penguins that will lay eggs and hatch chicks. | |||
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The nest of the Gentoo penguin is a pile of stones about 20 cm high and about 25 cm across and shaped like a circle. Two eggs are laid in the nest. The parents will take turns caring for the eggs. They will take turns by taking a day and then trading with the other mate. The eggs will hatch after about 36 days. The chicks will stay on the nest for about 30 days and then the chicks will form groups called creches. When the chicks are about 80 days old they will begin to loose their baby feathers and begin to grow their adult plumage. This is called molting. |
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| Gentoo penguins like to eat crustaceans, sea animals with shells, such as krill. They also eat some fish. | ||||
| Information for this page comes from Pete and Barb's Penguin Pages | ||||
