The Extraordinary Lives of Penguins
Penguins are only found in the Southern Hemisphere. These beautiful flighless birds are amazingly well adapted to their environment.
Penguins are flightless aquatic birds which live, almost exclusively, in the Southern Hemisphere. The actual number of difference penguin species is disputed among marine biologists. Some say that there are seventeen specific varieties while others claim to have identified as many as twenty species.
Little Blue Penguin
The Little Blue Penguin is the smallest of the penguin species. These small penguins are found off the southern coasts of Australia and New Zealand and have also been seen off the coast of Southern Chile. They are also known as Fairy Penguins, Little Penguins, or Blue Penguins and grow to about 43 centimetres, or sixteen inches in height, with a weight of around one kilogram.
Gentoo Penguin
The Gentoo Penguin is very distinctive in appearance. It has a broad white stripe across its head. and the chicks have grey, black and white fronts. Adult Gentoos grow up to 90 cms in height and that means that only the giant Emperor and King Penguins are larger.
Emperor Penguin
West Falkland King Penguin
The main predators of penguins while they are in the sea are sea lions, leopard seals and orcas. On land their are few predators, especially for the full grown Gentoos but birds steal their eggs. Penguins eat krill, crustaceans, fish and sometimes small squid.
Full Grown Antarctic Gentoo In All Its Glory.
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12 Responses to “The Extraordinary Lives of Penguins”
On May 6, 2008 at 6:03 am
Lovely article.
On May 6, 2008 at 7:02 am
Wonderful article, and beautiful pictures.
On May 6, 2008 at 10:39 am
Cute!
On May 6, 2008 at 5:59 pm
penguins are awesome! they’re soo cute!
On May 6, 2008 at 7:51 pm
That little blue penguin really is little. How cool. What a nice article.
On May 6, 2008 at 9:04 pm
They are so cute, what a pity they are having such a hard time surviving in the melting ice. Lets hope they will not be extinct in years to come.
On May 7, 2008 at 7:27 am
Remember the movie…Happy feet… so sweet penguins!
On May 7, 2008 at 9:26 am
great article,
On May 7, 2008 at 5:33 pm
yes, reminded me of Happy Feet too
On May 8, 2008 at 7:11 am
I love penguins! I was surprised when I found out (as an adult) that the South American ones ‘he-haw’ like a donkey. It was funny hearing that sound coming from a bird.
On May 8, 2008 at 10:11 am
Lovely article and pictures.
On May 10, 2008 at 5:52 am
They are cute!
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