Interesting penguins facts

August 24, 2009 | In: Animal facts for kids



There are 17 species of penguin; all have feathers, wings, are warm-blooded and lay eggs.

Penguins are found on every continent in the southern hemisphere, from the tropical Galapagos Islands off South America to the Antarctica.

The Galapagos Islands are the only place in the world where penguins can be found at the equator. They are able to survive the journey north by traveling with the cold Humboldt current.

Penguins are shaped like a torpedo. Their body is built for the most efficient swimming with their average speed in the water being about 15 miles per hour.

About month old, baby starts
to loose fluffy gray feathers.

They eat fish and krill. They don’t drink water, but eat snow.

Penguins are actually flightless birds and they prefer to stay and move within large groups. Half of their life is spent on land and half in the ocean.

The emperor penguin is the tallest and heaviest of all known penguins. They reach up to 122 cm in height and weigh anywhere from 22 to 45kg.

It is believed the first penguins were living in Peru more than 36 million years ago.

Magellanic penguins were named after Ferdinand Magellan who first saw them in 1519 on his trip around the tip of South America.

The macaroni penguin lays two eggs of different sizes; the second egg may be 70% larger than the first!

Usually only one egg survives, and the parents take turns incubating it until it hatches. The second, larger egg is usually the surviving one, and the first egg is abandoned.


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1 Response to Interesting penguins facts

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admin

June 21st, 2010 at 9:28 am

Penguins are not your average birds. They can swim, but not fly; have short, scaly feathers; and stand upright.

Found only in Antarctica, emperor penguins are the only living species to reproduce during the harsh Antarctic winter.

After laying a single egg, the mother goes to sea to feed and leaves the father to incubate the egg. Without a nest, he keeps the egg warm by holding it on his feet under an abdominal fold of skin. The mother returns to take over when the chick hatches two months later.

Emperors are the only birds that can live their entire lifetime without setting foot on dry land — residing solely on ice and in the water.

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