The penguin belongs to the order of swimming birds. They live mainly in Antarctica, on the islands and coasts of the Southern Hemisphere.
There are penguins living on the equator. Spectacled penguins live in southern Africa. And on the south coast of Australia, you can find the smallest penguin, its height is just over 40 cm, and its weight is about 2 kg.
The largest penguins are royal and imperial. Their height is more than a meter, and their weight is 42-45 kg. Penguins feed on fish, squid, and all kinds of crustaceans. They can stay under water for up to 20 minutes and dive to great depths.
Not all birds can fly. A penguin, for example, does not fly. In his white shirt front and black tailcoat, he looks like a little man. He walks on his paws, waddling comically.
And the wings of the penguins turned into flippers. They need them to swim. Penguins can swim and dive in icy water for a long time. For example, the “imperial” penguin lives in Antarctica, where it is always cold.
The feathers of penguins are short, but they cover the body tightly, like a fur coat. But the main protection against frosts and cold winds is solid reserves of fat under the skin.
Penguins live in large flocks. And they hunt in company too – it’s easier to defend against enemies this way: someone will definitely notice the danger and warn the others.
If all the birds hatch their chicks, then the penguin can be said to “stand by” them. The mother of the emperor penguin has only one egg. The penguin dad rejoices at him, flaps his wings, bows: maybe he thanks his “wife”?
And carefully puts an egg on his paws. And it covers the top with a downy fold of the abdomen. The egg cannot be dropped on the snow, it will freeze! And now for many, many days Dad will stand warming the egg with his body.
Then the baby will hatch out of the egg. He feels good on Daddy’s paws, like in a feather house. And mom swims in the sea, catches fish. So dad has to feed the penguin with special food, which is produced by his esophagus.
And mom will bring fish in her stomach to feed the baby when dad has little food.
When the chicks grow up, they are going to the “kindergarten”! The kids have babysitter penguins. Surprisingly, among the penguins that look like each other, mom and dad always unmistakably find their cub.
