Friday, October 17, 2014
Penguins
Penguins are birds that do not fly, although they have wings.
Their wings are like flippers and their feet are webbed;
and they can swim very fast in the sea, as fast as 12 km/h.
Larger penguins can dive deep in case of need,
reaching depths of 565 meters for up to 22 minutes.
Penguins are adapted to life in the sea; they live and hunt
by the sea,
and are known as aquatic birds.
Penguins are invariably black on the back and white in front;
these give them the distinctive elegant tuxedo-like
appearance.
This countershading appearance offers them some sort of
camouflage from their enemies,
being white from below water against the sky and dark from
above.
Penguins are land creatures; they usually stand upright and erect,
and they are known as standing geese in Chinese.
Waddling is clumsy for penguins, and often they would rather
glide
on their fluffy puffy belly along the snow or downslopes,
like tobogganing.
They may also jump with both feet together
if they need to move more quickly or across steep or rocky
terrain.
Penguins are found almost exclusively in the southern
hemisphere,
where they catch their food underwater and raise their young
on land.
There are many species of penguins.
The largest living specie is the emperor penguin reaching a meter tall and weighing 35 kg.
The smallest penguin specie is the little blue penguin, also known as the fairy penguin,
which stands around 40 cm tall and weighs 1 kg.
Penguins are social birds. Many species feed, swim and nest
in groups.
Penguins may breed in large colonies that include thousands
of penguins.
Penguins form monogamous pairs for a breeding season,
and each penguin has a distinct call,
allowing individuals to find their mate and their chicks
even in large groups.
The staple diet of penguins consists of krill, fish and squid.
Those closer to the equator eat more fish and those closer to Antarctica eat more squid and krill.
Those closer to the equator eat more fish and those closer to Antarctica eat more squid and krill.
Toys of penguins used to be very popular, in soft cuddly form or spring-energy metal moving toys.
# posted by chunmu @ 1:05 AM 
