Why are Penguins Black and White?

Penguins are flightless marine birds that are loved by many wildlife lovers and kids. There are 17 species of living penguins. The majority of the species are found endemic to the southern hemisphere where one species called Galapagos penguins live near the equator. Even though the species are different they have the common coloring in the body with a white front and black back body.

How Many Types of Penguins are There?

There are around 17 species of living penguins. There are other subspecies of penguins that are not added as a different type because of genetic similarity. Penguins live in the southern hemisphere whereas some species live in the Galapagos Islands near the equator.

Not every species of penguins live in Antarctica and frigid conditions. There are certain species that live in the temperate regions. The characteristics, features, size, and look of the penguins vary from their habitation. Emperor penguins are the remarkable flightless marine bird that lives in Antarctica.

Penguin and Puffins

If you looked at them from a distance, you might mistake a penguin for a puffin and vice versa, but there are many differences between the two animals. Even though, puffins might look similar to smaller penguins because of their size and color of their feathers, the similarities between the two ends here.

In this article, we are going to take a look at some of the differences between a penguin and a puffin so that next time you see either bird, you can tell if it’s a penguin or a puffin.

Do Penguins Have Hollow Bones?

Birds have light and fewer bones, unlike mammals. Mammals have strong but many bones when compared to birds. When it comes to flightless birds, they have different bones from the birds that can fly. Flightless birds like penguins do not have hollow bones. Their bones are filled and solid which makes them swim in the water easily.

Other flightless birds have marrow-filled bones like emu, kiwi, ostrich, cassowary, rhea, elephant bird and moa. They fall under the name ratites.

How do Penguins Get Around?

Penguins are adorable birds that are flightless and they waddle on land. They swim or almost fly in the water. Penguins slide on their bellies to move. Penguins are spectacular when they get around in the water by swimming or diving. Their waddling walk on land makes them a cuddly bird in the marine.

Swimming, walking, and sliding is their major ways of getting around. However, they do jump from one cliff or rock shelves to another. Their predominant way of moving is by swimming in the ocean.

Are Penguins Monogamous?

Penguins are some of the most beautiful aquatic creatures that fascinate a lot of people across the world. A lot of romance-themed writers make references to the faithful relationships of penguins with their partners. These references are basically one of the reasons why so many people want to know whether or not penguins stick to one partner their entire lives.

An average penguin takes around 3-8 years to reach complete maturity. However, there are a lot of different smaller species in the penguin family where the penguins breeding starts at 3-4 years. The breeding season of penguins happens during spring all the way through summer every year.

How Big are Penguins?

Scientists calculate the penguin’s dimensions by scaling the sizes of its bones against those of modern penguin species. They estimate that the penguin probably would have weighed about 250 pounds. The largest species of penguin living today, the emperor penguin, is approximately 4 feet tall and can weigh as much as 100 pounds by comparison.

The oldest species of penguins whose fossil bones were uncovered in the Antarctic were about 37-million-years-old. These species were the largest that was ever discovered as its size is about 6 foot 8 inches. The mountainous birds were the Godzilla of aquatic birds and would have dwarfed most of the adult humans. These penguins were called the “Palaeeudyptes klekowskii.”

What do Penguins do?

Penguins are instantly recognizable and our favorite birds. They spend up to 75% of their lives in the water searching for their food. They do all of their hunting in water. Their prey can be found within 60 feet of the surface, so penguins do not need to swim in deep water. They catch prey in their beaks and swallow them entirely as they swim. Some species only leave the water for breeding and molting.

Do Polar Bears and Penguins Live Together ?

It is always good to see the penguin and polar bears together in commercials and movies. But, in reality, they are pole apart, being separated from warm waters of the equator; polar bears live in the Arctic, Northern Hemisphere whereas, penguins live in Southern Hemisphere ranging from Galapagos to the Antarctic.

The cuddly appearance of both the species makes them a good matter for an advertisement to attract people especially kids. The other reason why the two adorable species are thought to live in the same place is that, the habitat of the cool icy atmosphere.

How do Penguins Survive?

Penguins are flightless birds that live in the Southern Hemisphere. Few species of penguins like emperor penguins live in the real cold of Antarctic islands where the temperature never rises above the freezing point. Many of us may wonder how these flightless birds live in the icy marine world. Nature has built its body to adapt to the cold easily.

Although nature has provided the body mechanism to work without the effort of penguins, there are also steps that penguins take to survive the cold. Penguins are excellent swimmers and divers. Gentoo penguins can swim at the speed of 22 mph and emperor penguins can dive to the depth of 1,700 feet.