Penguin

Nobody knows exactly where the name “penguin” comes from. The Latin word “penguin” means “fat”; but it could also be derived from the Welsh “pen gwyn”, “white head”.

Characteristics

What do penguins look like?

Although penguins are birds, they cannot fly: they use their wings to swim. Penguins have a small head that flows smoothly into their chubby body. The back is evenly covered with dark or black feathers. The belly is rather light or white in color. The feathers can be very dense: With 30,000 feathers, the emperor penguin has denser plumage than any other bird.

Penguins’ wings are long and flexible. Their tails are short. Some penguins can grow up to 1.20 meters tall.

Where do penguins live?

In the wild, penguins only live in the southern hemisphere. They are found in Antarctica and on offshore islands. Also in Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina, and South Africa, as well as on the Falkland and Galapagos Islands. Penguins live mainly in the water and prefer cold ocean currents. Therefore they live on the shores of the countries or islands they inhabit.

They only go ashore to breed or during heavy storms. However, penguins occasionally migrate far inland. Some species even lay their eggs there.

What types of penguins are there?

There are 18 different species of penguins in total.

Behave

How do penguins live?

Penguins spend most of their time in the water. With the help of their powerful wings, they swim quickly through the water. Some penguins can reach speeds of up to 50 kilometers per hour! On land, penguins can only waddle. That looks pretty awkward. Nevertheless, they can cover large distances in this way. When it gets too steep to waddle, they lie on their stomachs and slide downhill or push themselves forward with their feet.

Penguin friends and foes

Their black and white coloring protects the penguins from enemy attacks in the water: Because from below, enemies who dive deeper can hardly see the penguins with their white belly against the sky. And from above her dark back blends with the dark depths of the sea.

Some seal species prey on penguins. These include especially the leopard seals, but also the sea lions. Skuas, giant petrels, snakes, and mice like to steal eggs from clutches or eat young birds. Penguins are also endangered by humans: the greenhouse effect shifts cold ocean currents so that certain sections of the coast are lost as habitats.

How do penguins breed?

The breeding behavior of the different penguin species is very different. Males and females often spend the winter separately and do not meet again until the breeding season. Some penguins are loyal and form a pair for life. All penguins breed in colonies. This means that many animals gather in one place and give birth there together. In the case of emperor penguins, the males incubate the eggs in their abdominal folds. Other penguins look for caves, build nests or hollows.

When the young have hatched, they often gather in a kind of “penguin kindergarten”: There they are fed by all the parents together. There are no land predators on the breeding grounds of Antarctic penguins. Therefore, the penguins lack the typical escape behavior. Even when people approach, the animals do not run away.

How do penguins hunt?

Penguins sometimes travel 100 kilometers in water to hunt. When they spot a school of fish, they swim right into it, scuttling. They devour any animal they catch. Penguins try to grab the fish from behind. Her head jerks forward at lightning speed. On a successful catch, a king penguin can eat about 30 pounds of fish or collect it to feed the young.

Care

What do penguins eat?

Penguins eat fish. It’s mostly small schooling fish and squid. But big penguins also grab bigger fish. Around the Antarctic, krill is also on the menu. These are small crabs that swim around in huge swarms.