Top Facts about Penguins

While you may be an avid fan of penguins, there is likely some information you aren’t familiar with. Learning various facts is a great way to expand your knowledge. It can also fuel your interest to learn more about specific species of penguins or certain aspects of their lives.

1. Penguins are birds

Penguins are birds highly adapted to the aquatic life.

Penguins are avid swimmers and they have changed their wings by flippers as part of the adaptation process.

2. Penguin feed in the Ocean

Penguins feed on squid, fish, krill and some other forms of sealife.

3. The Emperor Penguin is the largest penguin

The Emperor Penguins are about 1.1 meters tall and about 35 Kg weigh. The Little Blue Penguins are the smallest penguins and they are about 40 cm tall and 1 Kg. weigh

Types of Penguins:

Stiff  Tailed Penguins:

Chinstrap

The chinstrap can be identified by the black line on its chin, making it look as if it wears a hat that ties under its chin. It has orange feet and a black beak, and its eyes are black. It stands about 28 inches tall and weighs 9 to 14 pounds. Chinstraps live on icebergs in the ocean around Antarctica. Krill and small fish are their foods.
The chinstrap is the boldest of the penguins. It will fight if other penguins threaten it. These penguins make nests of pebbles and stones. The female lays two eggs, both of which are kept warm and hatch. Raising two chicks is unusual, as most penguins are able to raise only one.
Once the chicks are about a month old, the parents leave in groups for the open ocean to hunt for food. They return from time to time to feed the chicks. While the parents are gone, the chicks huddle together in crèches to stay warm and be safe from predators.  As the chicks grow, they lose their downy feathers by molting. New sleek, smooth feathers grow in.

Gentoo

The gentoo penguin has a white patch on its head. It is about 32 inches tall and weighs 10 to 19 pounds. The gentoo is the largest of the stiff-tailed penguins. Its has beak is red and its feet are orange.
Gentoos are the fastest swimmers. They eat mostly krill, but also eat some small fish. They hunt around the islands north of Antarctica where they live.
Gentoos live in large colonies. They make nests, sometimes using old bones and feathers that have molted. The female lays two eggs. Sometimes both chicks survive to adulthood.

Adelie

The Adélie penguin has a distinctive white ring around its eye. This eye ring is brighter during the mating season. The Adélie is about 28 inches tall and weighs 8 to 14 pounds. It has a orange feet and a short orange beak. The black feathers cover much of the beak. Adélies are strong swimmers and can jump high when leaving the water. On land, they move by tobogganing on their bellies. The Adélie is a stiff-tailed penguin. Its tail is long and drags behind it as it waddles.
Adélies nest on the shores of Antarctica where it is rocky. They gather in large colonies. They make nests of pebbles and stones, and sometimes Adélies steal the stones from each other. When the nest is ready, the female lays two eggs. Adélies are the fastest growing penguins, but only one chick survives.

Large Penguins:

Emperor

The emperor penguin stands about 4 feet tall and is the largest of the penguins. It weighs 70 to 90 pounds. It has yellow patches on each side of its head and a yellow patch on its breast. The feet and eyes are black. The beak is dark purple. It breeds on Antarctica, surviving the bitter cold.
The female emperor lays one egg during the winter, then gives it to the male to incubate or keep warm. He keeps it on his feet for nine weeks, warming it with his brood pouch. The female returns to the sea to feed. When she returns, the male goes to sea to feed. He returns, and they both feed the chick. The parent keeps the chick warm with the brood pouch. When the chicks are older, they huddle together in a crèche to keep warm and to be protected against
skuas.
The emperor penguin can dive up to 900 feet deep. That is as deep as three football fields end to end. By diving so deep, this penguin can catch large fish.

King

The king penguin is the most colorful penguin. It has an orange collar and a bright golden breast. The king penguin is the second largest penguin, standing about 3 feet tall. It weighs 30 to 40 pounds. The feet are black, and the eyes are black. The very long beak is black with orange on the sides. This penguin breeds on the islands north of Antarctica.
The female king penguin lays only one egg. Once it is laid, the female returns to the ocean to feed, while the male keeps the egg warm on his feet. When she returns, the male leaves to feed. He returns and both parents take turns feeding the chick. King penguins raise only one chick every other year.
King penguins were once hunted for their blubber which was made into oil.

Crested Penguins:

Rockhopper

The rockhopper penguin is one of the crested penguins. It moves not by waddling, but by hopping. It is an aggressive penguin and is quick to attack other penguins, if bothered. The rockhopper is about 20 inches tall, and weighs 5 to 10 pounds. It has long yellow feathers that form eyebrows and stick out from both sides of its head. The beak and feet are orange, and the eyes are red.
Rockhoppers live on the islands north of Antarctica. A pair makes a nest by creating a bowl shape in the ground and lining it with dried grasses. Usually, the female lays two eggs. The second is the larger, and that is the one that the parents raise. The male and female take turns caring for the egg. Once the egg hatches, the female goes to sea to feed, while the male cares for the chick. When the female returns, she feeds the chick by bringing food up from her belly.
Rockhoppers seem to “pop” out of the water onto the rocks when they return to shore. They live in huge colonies and one after the other can be seen jumping from the water onto the ice.

Little Penguins:

Little Blue

The little blue penguin, also called fairy penguin, it is the smallest of all penguins. It is only about 14 inches tall and weighs 2 to 4 pounds. The feathers on its back are a bluish gray, thus giving it its name. This penguin’s beak is dark gray and the feet are pinkish.
Little blue penguins live on the southern shores of New Zealand and Australia. It is warmer here than in Antarctica, and the penguins are able to dig burrows to sleep in at night. During the day, they swim in the waters looking for small fish and squid to eat. They enter and leave the water in the dark, but because they swim in shallow water close to shore, they can be seen during the day.
Because little blues live where people have settled, dogs, rats, and foxes are predators. These penguins swim close to shore, hunting for small fish. Because the waters are more shallow here, leopard seals and killer whales are not major predators of the little blue penguins.