What do penguins do?

Penguins look like gentlemen in tuxedos waddling clumsily over the ice. Underwater, though, they are excellent swimmers. They are birds, although they cannot fly, and most live in the southern hemisphere. What makes them so special?

Birds that swim instead of fly

Their wings have turned into strong flippers they use to fly underwater. Some species swim at more than twenty kilometers an hour and dive to catch fish and squid.

A coat against the cold

They have tightly packed feathers covered in oil that keep water out and, underneath, a thick layer of fat that protects them from the cold. They also huddle together in large groups to keep warm.

A two-color suit

Their dark back and white belly work as camouflage: from above they blend with the sea floor and, from below, with the bright surface.

Where they live

Not all of them live on ice. There are penguins on the coasts of Africa, South America and Australia, and even on the Galapagos Islands, near the equator.

Caring dads

Emperor penguins lay a single egg and it is the father who keeps it warm on his feet for weeks, without eating, while the mother goes off to fish.

What they eat

They eat fish, squid and krill, which are tiny crustaceans, and they swallow their food whole.

A fun fact

Penguins spend a lot of time in the water and come ashore to raise their chicks and renew their feathers. The smallest are about thirty centimeters tall, while the emperor is more than a meter tall.

Activity: your own colony

Gather some friends in a tight circle and swap places slowly, from the inside out, taking turns: this is what penguins do so that everyone gets warm.

Something to think about

When it is very cold, the penguins in the middle of the group take turns with those on the outside. This way nobody spends too long exposed to the freezing wind. It is a great example of how animals cooperate to survive.