Snow is falling on a zoo penguin enclosure. Most of the birds stand still against the rocks, but one small penguin cannot stop moving: it bounces, hops and spins across the fresh snow while the adults look on. The clip has circulated since early 2011 as “Happiest Penguin Ever – Real Life Happy Feet”.
The “Happiest Penguin Ever” video
The Japanese tech and culture site Gigazine shared the video on 3 January 2011, describing a young penguin jumping non-stop in the snow with its feathers fluttering, while the older birds stood and watched. Viewers compared it with Mumble, the tap-dancing emperor penguin of the animated film Happy Feet. The copy embedded here was uploaded to YouTube by diyar abo.
Readers of that first post suggested the tall birds in the background, with their bright neck patches, may be king or emperor penguins, and that the lively jumper may be a rockhopper. The zoo itself was not named.
King and emperor penguins: telling them apart
The two largest penguins look alike at first glance. King penguins stand 70 to 100 centimetres tall and weigh about 9 to 18 kilograms, making them about 25% shorter and a third lighter than emperors. Adult kings have a solid bright orange cheek patch and orange beak markings, while emperors have a paler yellow-and-white patch and pinkish beak markings. Their chicks differ completely: king chicks wear heavy dark brown down, emperor chicks are grey with a black-and-white mask.
In the wild they rarely meet. Kings breed on subantarctic islands between about 45° and 55° south, including the Falklands and Macquarie Island, while emperors breed in Antarctica. Kings are a flagship species in zoos and aquariums, from Edinburgh Zoo to Detroit Zoo and the Montreal Biodome.
How penguins handle snow and cold
Penguins are built for cold. A thick layer of insulating feathers sits over dense down-like plumules close to the skin. In the flippers, a counter-current heat exchanger called the humeral plexus warms cold returning blood with blood leaving the body, and emperor penguins can limit blood flow to their feet so they neither freeze nor waste heat. Emperors also huddle in tight groups, taking turns in the warm centre.
On snow, penguins move in three ways: the familiar waddle, two-footed hops for rocky or steep ground, and “tobogganing”, sliding on the belly and pushing with the feet, which is fast and saves energy. The bouncing star of this clip is using the hop with plenty of extra enthusiasm.
More penguin and snow-animal videos
For a longer watch, try penguin movements in a documentary compilation or penguins used as animated story characters.
Related reading
- A Penguin Slip, a Perfectly Timed Sound and a Short Winter Clip
- Ginzey The Dog Cheats A Snow Maze In The Most Lovable Way Ever
- Animals in Snow: Winter Photographs, Food, Rest and Movement
Sources
- Video: ♥♥ Happiest Penguin Ever ♥♥, uploaded by diyar abo on YouTube.
- Gigazine (3 January 2011)
- Wikipedia: King penguin
- Wikipedia: Penguin
don't want to be realist, but it looks like he/she is a little penguine who enjoys the snow or music, or whatever, just like our kids.
ReplyDeletewish it could be in his/her natural environment, because just looking at the grown up society of penguins that surrond him/her, it doesn't look like they enjoy the place, at all...
Agree!
Delete