Penguin World

PENGUIN WORLD
Author: Ian J. Strange

Penguins are flightless birds that largely spend their life at sea. Their wings are sturdy, short flippers, which enable them dive and swim. The tips of feathers are oily to help in repelling water, and the short overall feathering keeps them dry and warm.

On land, Penguins walk in an upright position. Their short legs and feet allow many species to only waddle or hop. Each species of penguin has a distinctive voice or call to identify others at sea. The voices play an important part in the life cycle of the penguins.

Penguins leave the sea and come ashore to breed and rear their young. Certain parts of Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and South America and particularly many smaller groups of islands in the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic have vast populations of Penguins. Penguins are colonial breeders and prefer living in groups.

All Penguins belong to the family Spheniscidae. They are classified into species or groups, which have different breeding cycles and periods. The King penguin breeding cycle takes fourteen months while Rockhoppers, gentoos, magellans and macaroni take five months.

Not all penguins migrate from their breeding area. Migrations are prompted by movement of seas or currents, which are caused by prevailing winds, differences in the sea’s density or salinity, amount of salts in the water and the earth’s rotation. For example the Falkland current sweeps up toward the Falkland Island at certain times of the year carrying lots of food. The penguins migrate at this time because most depend on certain foods.

Sea Lions, Leopard seals, killer whales are known to feed on Penguins. Sadly, man also becomes one of the Penguins predators through oil deposits in the sea. Penguins are covered by thick layers of oil hence dying.