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There are 17 species of penguins, all of which live in the Southern Hemisphere.
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This is theAfrican penguin, and it is the only breed of penguin found to breed in Africa. They live in southern Africa and live under rocks, shrubs and in burrows.
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Rockhopper penguins are relatively small and distinguishable by their spiky feather plumes and red eyes. The live in the sub-antarctic and make their nests from pebbles.
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Penguins aren't the only bird that can't fly. Emus, ostriches, kiwis and cassowaries also can't fly. If an animal has feathers, lays eggs and is warm-blooded, it's considered a bird.
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Penguins have feathers like other birds, although they are short and stiff in comparison. The outside layer of a penguins feathers are distributed evenly over the penguins body, waterproofing the penguin and protecting it from the wind. Under the outer feathers is layer of downy, soft feathers, which provides insulation and allows the penguin to live in the harsh cold of the Antarctic.
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Penguins are awkward on land, but excellent swimmers. Although they usually stay within the first 10 meters of water, they can dive as deep as 250 meters.
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Penguins diets consist of fish, squid, crustaceans, and krill. The size of the penguin will determine the size of its food, although in recent times, climate change has also effected the food available to penguins.
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When in the water, Antarctic penguins have to watch out for sharks, orcas (killer whales), sea lions and leopard seals. All three are fast swimmers and getting caught by one is fatal. Penguins don't have any predators on land, meaning that when encountering humans they are curious and friendly.
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Penguins are able to drink salt water, and end up drinking a lot when catching food underwater. While nearly all animals need to drink fresh water to survive, penguins have a gland that removes the salt from their bloodstream. This gland is located in their beak, and looks like a nostril. Salt water drips from here, giving the appearance of a runny nose, but serving an important purpose.
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When penguin chicks are around 2 months old, they start to spend time away from their parents. One adult penguin will look after a group of penguin chicks, acting as a babysitter. This allows the chick's parents to have some me-time, eat and rest. Sound familiar?
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Rockhopper penguins are known to be aggressive and fight over just about anything, including arguments about food, territory, mating partners and nest materials.
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Both parents have an important role in rearing an emperor penguin chick. After the mother penguin lays an egg, she willleave the eggfor the father penguin to look after for around 8 weeks. If the egg hatches before the mother returns, the father penguin will be able to regurgitate food into the chick's mouth until mum returns. This could take weeks, and often the father penguin will lose half his body weight.
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Baby Emperor penguins are born with fluffy grey feathersand a black and white face. Around 1 year of age, they lose their baby feathers and their adult coloring comes in.
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Adelie penguins, like this one, live on the Antarctic continent and on many surrounding islands. They are distinguishable by the white ring around their eyes and sometimes swim a round trip of 185 miles for a meal!
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A group on penguins in water is called a 'raft', and a group of penguins on land is called a 'waddle'. More collective nouns for penguins include 'colony', 'rookery' and 'huddle'.
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Penguins are colored black and white for camouflage; when viewed in the water from below, their white stomachs are hidden against the light coming from above. If viewed from above the ocean, their black backs make them almost impossible to see against the dark ocean.
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Between 37 and 40 million years ago, a mega penguin lived that measured between 160 cm and 2 meters tall. Today, the largest penguin is the Emperor penguin, which reaches a maximum height of 122 cm.
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Penguins are protected from the cold by their insulating feathers and their body fat: the fatter the penguin, the more likely it is to survive.
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Although penguins are more comfortable in the water than they are on land, they are not able to breathe underwater. Penguins are able to hold their breath underwater, with the time length depending on the species of penguin. While most species can spend 6 minutes underwater, the Emperor penguin can hold it's breath for the longest amount of time. Emperor penguins are known to dive to depths of 550 meters, and have adapted to be able to hold their breaths for 20 minutes.
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Penguins don't have teeth. They have backward-facing bristles inside their mouths that hep guide the food down their throats.
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The Gentoo penguin can reach up to 22 miles per hour when swimming.
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If a female penguin loses her chick, or it dies, she will often try to steal another chick from its parents.
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All penguins, aside from 2 species, live in colonies of up to 1000 penguins.
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Penguins don't have visible ears, but this doesn't mean they don't hear well. Penguins have excellent hearingand can recognize the voices of their partners, offspring or parents in a large group of penguins - which can get noisy!
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There have been many instances of same-sex penguin couples, both male and female. As males and female penguins share parenting duties equally, it is easy for each couple to look after the egg - the only problem is getting an egg. Manysame-sex penguin couples have had unwanted eggs donated to them from zoo keepers (after attempting to steal another couple's egg). There have even been instances of female penguins mating with male penguins and returning to their female partner once the egg has been laid.
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While some penguins are comfortable with warm temperatures, like the Galapagos penguins who live near the equator, other penguins that live in Antarctica can overheat if the weather gets too hot. When penguins are too hot, they erect their feathers to increase air flow, lie down on the ice away from the other penguins, and pant.
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All penguin species except the Emperor penguin build nests for their eggs. These nests can be made from a range of materials, depending on the bird's environment. This generally includes rocks, sticks, and mud. Emperor penguins have a pouch known as a brood pouch, which is a flap of feathered skin that can completely cover the egg. Balancing the egg on top of their feet, the egg is kept warm inside this pouch. Once hatched, baby chicks still take shelter in their mother or father's brood pouch.
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Penguins really do dance, although not quite as well as in Happy feet.
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There is a specific word for when penguins transport themselves on their stomach: tobogganing. This is a faster and more efficient way of getting around than walking, for penguins have short legs and only reach around 2 miles per hour on foot. Tobogganing is great on flat or descending surfaces, and penguins increase their speed by pushing the ground with their feet. This is also an effective way to escape land predators, which are rare but not unheard of.
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Not all penguins live in the ice and snow. These penguins, known asLittle Blue penguins or Fairy penguins, live in Australia and New Zealand. They live in burrows, under trees, rock crevices and sometimes in caves. Fairy penguins are the smallest species of penguin, and unlike other penguins, they are nocturnal.
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