Penguins And Their Habbitat Essay, Research Paper

Penguins and Their Habitat

All penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere and gather together to form huge colonies. The largest colony in the world has 300,000 penguin couples. Even though penguins live in large groups, they do not crowd each other. Each one keeps a small area around it, just big enough to stretch out its beak and flap its wings.

The penguins are well prepared for the cold Antarctica climate. Even though they spend a long time in freezing water, they do not get cold because they have a thick layer of insulating fat and waterproof feathers. Penguins spend most of their time at sea feeding on shrimp, small fish and squid, only to come ashore for breeding.

Most penguins build nests and lay two eggs, except the emperor and king penguins, which lay only one egg and use their body as a nest. Baby penguins have many predators, such as petrels, skuas and seagulls, while predators for adult penguins are killer whales, leopard seals and most of all man.

There are 18 different kinds, or species, of penguins, and they are the worlds only group of flightless diving birds. The emperor penguin is the biggest of the penguins. It is about 3 feet tall and can weigh up to 90 pounds. The smallest penguin is the little blues. It only weighs three pounds. All penguins have long, stiff tails that act like a third foot.

Penguins are my favorite animals because they look like little men in tuxedos. I think the rock hopper is the funniest looking penguin, but my favorite is the magellan penguin. All penguins’ actions are funny, especially the way they walk, toboggan and shoot out of the water. If I could, I would own one as a pet.

My interest and love for penguins is why I want to be a Marine Biologist when I grow up.