Eudyptes is a genus of penguins whose members are collectively called crested penguins. The exact number of species in the genus varies between four and seven depending on the authority, and a Chatham Islands species became extinct in recent centuries. All are black and white penguins with yellow crests, red bills and eyes, and are found on Subantarctic islands in the world's southern oceans. All lay two eggs, but raise only one young per breeding season; the first egg laid is substantially smaller than the second.
Crested penguin
Madrynornis fossil
Image: Fiordland penguin (Mattern)
Image: Erect crested penguin (Eudyptes sclateri)
Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae of the order Sphenisciformes. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is found north of the Equator. Highly adapted for life in the ocean water, penguins have countershaded dark and white plumage and flippers for swimming. Most penguins feed on krill, fish, squid and other forms of sea life which they catch with their bills and swallow whole while swimming. A penguin has a spiny tongue and powerful jaws to grip slippery prey.
A group of emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) in Antarctica
Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) feeding young. Like its relatives, a neatly bi-coloured species with a head marking.
Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus). The closed neck collar denotes this species.
Southern rockhopper penguin (Eudyptes chrysocome) displaying its distinctive crest