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Today on Animal Fact Files we’re discussing penguins. Penguins are flightless birds mostly confined to the southern hemisphere, though one species just barely makes it over the equator. Penguins tend to be equated with frigid temperatures and icy conditions, but these birds have quite an expansive range encompassing different habitat types, though they do still require cooler conditions with some species even having methods for losing heat as opposed to retaining it! The common name “penguin” likely comes from a shared name. Until their untimely demise at the hands of humanity in the mid 19th century, great auks were also called “penguins”, and because the birds we know today as penguins looked similar to the great auks, they received the same name! Though, there’s also the possibility their name comes from the Latin word meaning “fat” which would be adorable. Penguin wings are used for a sort of “underwater flight” but certainly can’t get them airborne. Their bodies are well shaped for moving around through water with dense, heavy bones that offset the accumulation of insulating and buoyant air in their feathers. Their feet also appear what seems like too far back on their bodies - giving some penguins a name that means something along the lines of “rump-legged”. Because their feet are positioned more like a seal’s and closer to their tails: in order to walk on land, penguins walk upright - or they’ll scoot along on their bellies!

Penguins breed in large colonies that may form anytime during the year depending on the species. For example, chinstrap penguins may breed on a volcanic island which remains free of snow for months using pebbles as nesting sites, but emperor penguins breed during the Antarctic winter on sea ice and store their eggs on their feet to keep them warm. After hatching, penguin chicks will eventually form a group, called a creche, in which they’ll stick together while their parents are away gathering food. When the babies are ready to live on their own, the colonies will disband to the sea until the next breeding season. Threats to penguins include skuas, white sharks, orcas, leopard seals and more, but they may live to be 5 to more than 25 years old if they can avoid these predators.

Depending on who you ask, there are about nineteen living penguin species, and they can be split up into six different groups. The great penguins make up the first penguin group. The group includes both king and emperor penguins. These are the largest living penguins. They call the Antarctic wilderness home. Great penguins eat fish and squid; their long, sharp beaks are specifically designed for this purpose!

Next are the brush tailed penguins who get their name for… obvious reasons. This group includes adelie, chinstrap, and gentoo penguins. These penguins mostly eat krill, though they may also take fish. Brush tailed penguins live from Antarctica to sub-antarctic islands.

Then there are two groups which contain a single species: the little penguins with the little blue penguin as the sole representative and another group without a common name to which the yellow eyed penguin belongs. There’s debate that other species may exist in these two groups, but for the purposes of this video we’ll stick with the single species. Little penguins are found in Australia and New Zealand. They eat small fish and reach approximately a foot and a half (46cm) in height. They’re the smallest living penguin species! Yellow eyed penguins live in New Zealand and reach about two and a half feet in height (76cm). They eat fish and are in danger of extinction along with the Galapagos penguins from the next group.

The next group of penguins, the banded penguins, are the closest found to the equator. This includes the magellanic, humboldt, african, and Galapagos penguins with the Galapagos just barely entering into the northern hemisphere. This group may be found throughout coastlines of southern Africa and South America venturing as far north as the Galapagos islands. Banded penguins eat fish!

The final penguin group, which just so happens to be the largest, is the crested penguin group. These iconic birds are well known for their fancy head feathers! The crested penguins include: fiordland, snares, erect crested, southern rockhopper, eastern rockhopper, northern rockhopper, royal, and, of course, macaroni penguins. Crested penguins live on sub-antarctic islands as well as New Zealand and Australia. They eat squid, fish, krill, and shrimp - and just so happen to be one of my favorite types of penguins! Which group is your favorite?

For more facts on penguins, check out the link in the description. Thank you to verkaforever for today’s request! Give a thumbs up if you learned something new today, and thank you for watching Animal Fact Files!