Penguin Facts and Information

Right from movies, like Madagascar and Happy Feet, to logos and mascots, penguins have an important place when it comes to popular culture. Sadly though, people seem to know very little about these flightless birds, beyond the pop-culture penguins that is, and therefore a reality check leaves you pretty disappointed. In a bid to help people do away with numerous myths about this flightless bird (with the ability to swim), we decided to compile some facts about it.

All about Penguins

Penguins are aquatic, flightless birds which are exclusively found in the southern hemisphere - with the exception of Galapagos penguin which is found on the Galapagos Islands just to the north of the Equator. That must have come as a surprise for many, as many people have the misconception that penguins are only found in Antarctica. With such misconceptions prevailing among all age groups, any information which spreads awareness about this species comes as a blessing in disguise for them.

Geographical Distribution
As we mentioned earlier, many people have a misconception that penguins are only found in Antarctica and other cold regions in the vicinity. Even though it's true that the penguin population is restricted to the southern hemisphere, some species of this flightless bird are found in the relatively warmer regions which are quite close to the Equator as well. One of the best example of the same is the Galapagos penguin - which boasts of being the only penguin that lives north of the Equator in the wild. Similarly, as many as 10 penguin species live in the temperate zones of the planet. As far as the geographical distribution of penguins is concerned, they are found in Antarctica, Australia, New Zealand, South America, and South Africa.

Penguin Species
The number of penguin species on the planet - which is put somewhere between 17-20, has been a subject of debate of late, with some concerns being raised on the inclusion of the White-flippered penguin, Royal penguin and the Rockhopper penguin as separate species in the list. The extant species of penguins are categorized into six sub-families Great penguins (Aptenodytes), Brush-tailed penguins (Pygoscelis), Little penguins (Eudyptula), Banded penguins (Spheniscus), (Megadyptes) and Crested penguins (Eudyptes). The largest sub-family is that of the Crested penguins which consists of nine sub-species. On the other hand, Great penguins, Little penguins and the Megadyptes sub-family consist of two sub-species each.

Size and Appearance
One attribute that speaks in volumes about the great deal of diversity that you get to see in this species is their size. While the largest penguin species is the Emperor penguin - standing 3.5-4.0 ft tall and weighing a whopping 70-75 lbs, the smallest is the Little Blue penguin - measuring 16 inches in terms of height and weighing somewhere around 2.2 lbs. Some researchers are of the opinion that penguins support the Bergmann's Rule - which suggests that larger species are found in colder environment and smaller species are found in warmer regions, very well. As far as appearance is concerned, penguins are typically characterized by countershaded dark and white plumage (which works wonders when it comes to camouflage) and flippers (which are nothing but modified wings).

Natural Habitat
Even though we often picture penguins walking/hopping on the ice clad land of Antarctica, the fact is that some penguin species spend more time in the sea than they do on the land. Their adaptations make it possible for them to spend hours together in freezing water which happens to be the most important constituent of their habitat. As we mentioned earlier, it's a myth that penguins are only found in ice clad regions of Antarctica. In fact, this may come as a surprise for many but penguin species are found on every single continent in the southern hemisphere. Interestingly, penguin habitat is typically characterized by remoteness and absence of land predators - the latter being of utmost important for the survival of these birds considering that they fly.

Diet and Hunting
The dietary habit in penguins differ from one species to another - which reduces the competition between species. Depending on their size, penguins feed on krill, squids, shrimp, fish, etc. While small penguins - such as Chinstrap penguins and Adélies penguins, resorting to small organisms such as krill and squids, larger species - such as Emperor penguins and King penguins, often resort to larger kills such as fish. The choice of food is also determined by the fact that penguins attack their prey, catch it by their bill and swallow it. The feeding habits in penguins are also governed by season in some species, and availability of food in some. Fasting is yet another widely observed ritual in penguins, with some species fasting during the breeding season and others fasting during annual molting periods.

More facts about penguins...

• The Great penguins are believed to be the best swimmers of the lot with the ability to clock an average speed of 6-7 mph.
• The eyes of these birds are specially adapted to make it possible for them to see underwater.
• Similarly, the fact that they have solid, dense bones helps them overcome the problem of buoyancy with ease.
• Diving is an important attribute in penguins which comes handy when hunting wherein they go beneath their prey and launch an attack from below.
• Penguins have the ability to drink saline water as they have special glands which facilitate filtering of the same.
• The average lifespan of penguins is 15-20 years, with most of the species attaining sexual maturity at 5-7 years.
• Only Crested penguin species demonstrate sexual dimorphism wherein the males are robust as compared to their female counterparts.

As with most of the other members of kingdom Animalia, even penguins have had to bear the brunt of human interference in their natural habitat. Other than that, habitat destruction as a result of climate change, large-scale predation by terrestrial as well as marine animals, lack of food, are some factors which have brought down penguin population on the planet. Even though only a few of the extant species have been declared endangered as of today, current trends don't really have a pleasant picture to depict in terms of their future.