Penguins Overall
It is largely because of the movie The March of the Penguins, that a huge amount of interest in penguins has been raised. Until this movie came out, most people never had any idea that penguins could be such a determined creature. This short article is just to give you a brief overview of the typical penguin.
Penguins are certainly odd looking little animals, with their tuxedo-styled plumage, and wobbly walk. For most people, that perception changed when the movie The March of the Penguins was released in theatres and brought attention to the Emperor penguin species. The film tells the story on the unbelievable hardships these penguins have to deal with just to be parents and raise a family. If you're one of the few people that haven’t seen the movie yet, you should definitely rent it soon from Netflix.com. The movie is funny in spots, and emotional in other scenes. After viewing the movie, you'll come away with a whole new awareness and respect for these great animals.
For the most part, penguins live in a rather small area. Their main home is in Antarctica, but some species of penguins can be found the cold coastal regions of South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia. There is also a penguin species found on the Galapagos Islands, and of course they are known as Galapagos penguins. There are however, no penguins in the Arctic. Likewise, there are no polar bears in Antarctica, but only in Arctica. :)
The largest penguins are the Emperor Penguins, which are an average of 48 inches in height as an adult. The smallest penguins are Rockhoppers, which are only twelve inches in height on average.
Penguins hunt for food in the water. There really isn't much food to be found on the Antarctic ice, so they have to go underwater to feed. A typical penguin diet is made up of fish, squid or krill. A penguin can hold its breath several minutes underwater, and dive very deep. They are very good swimmers.
As The March of the Penguins movie showed us, these birds have an interesting and unique breading cycle. Penguins only breed once each year, and only in specially picked out areas called rookeries, which serve as the penguins breeding grounds. Much like some other creatures, penguins return to the same rookery every year to breed. A penguin will sometimes travel 60 or 70 miles or more just to reach the rookeries.
Once the penguins arrive at their breeding grounds (the rookeries), the male and female penguins will flirt with each other and finally fall in love with their mate after finding the perfect match. The female penguin will only lay one egg. After laying the egg, the female penguin will very carefully transfer the egg to the male, who will then hold the egg on the top of his feet so it doesn't touch the ice, and with his stomach hanging over it to cover it and keep it warm. The male penguin will do this for a solid nine consecutive weeks and will not eat food the entire time. During this nine week period, the male will lose nearly half of his body weight, and the mother penguin will take the opportunity to go out to sea to feed as much as she can to replenish her own resources, which were drained during her pregnancy and while laying the egg. The female will then return to the father penguin, usually just about the same time as the egg hatches, and will trade places with the male penguin so he can go back out to sea and hunt for food to regain his strength. The mother penguin will feed her baby penguin from her mouth.
There is much more to know about penguins than just what is in this short article though, so explore some of the other pages and keep learning about these amazing creatures!