"Penguin Awareness Day" - 10 Interesting Facts.

Today is "Penguin Awareness Day" so I thought i'd share some interesting facts on everyones favourite flightless aquatic birds.

1. There is debate as to whether there are 18 or 20 different species of penguin. The uncertainty comes from the White-flippered Penguin (Eudyptula minor albosignata) which is considered by many taxonomists to be a colour morph or subspecies of the Little Penguin., with others believing it to be a seperate Eudyptula species. The other debated species is the Royal Penguin (Eudyptes schlegeli) due to the controversy as to whether it truly is a seperate species or just a colour morph of the Macaroni penguin (Eudyptes chrysolophus).

Macaroni Penguin (left) and Royal Penguin (right).

Galapagos Penguin

2. All the species of penguin are found in the Southern Hemisphere,
but they are not exclusive to Antarctica or cold climates.

3. The Galapagos Penguin (Spheniscus mendiculus) is found close to the equator. It is endemic to the Galapagos islands and is the most northerly breeding penguin species. There are estimated to be less than 1200 mature individuals of this small endangered bird.

 4. The tallest penguin is the Emperor Penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) reaching up to 48 inches in height. In comparison the smallest is the Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor) which grows to an average height of 13 inches.

Approximate height difference between an adult Emperor and Little Penguin.

5. The tuxedo-like colouring the penguins have is called counter-shading and is a form of camouflage that is used to protect them whilst they are swimming.

6. Most penguins return to the same nesting site each season and in many cases, the exact place they themselves were born. 

7. They are colonial and mostly breed in large colonies which can consist of tens of thousands depending on the species. The numbers vary greatly, however, for example Gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis papua) colonies tend to be around 100 pairs whereas King penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus) colonies can reach into the several hundred thousands. 

Huge King penguin colony.

8. The majority of penguin species are monogamous, often returning to the same partner for many years in a row. In 2012, researchers in Argentina found a pair of Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) had remained faithful to one another for sixteen years.

9. It is believed the earliest penguin relative lived over 60 million years ago. This means an early relative of the penguin survived the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event which wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs. This is probably because..

10. Penguins used to be able to fly! Penguins used to fly but changed and evolved to be swimmers. A theory as to why this is suggests that their once flight-adapted wings simply became more efficient for swimming and so they eventually lost their ability to fly off the ground. Others suggest that it was because flying takes a lot more energy than swimming, so as their bodies adapted more suitably to the water, they began to hunt in the seas rather than the skies.

  Happy Penguin Awareness Day! :)