In the wild penguins are found only in the Southern Hemisphere with the main concentrations located on the Antarctic coasts and sub-Antarctic islands.
Volunteer Programs with Penguins
You can find volunteer opportunities with penguins in zoos, wildlife sanctuaries and in the wild on conservation and scientific expeditions to volunteer in Antarctica.
Penguin Information
Penguins are a group of aquatic, flightless birds living almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere, in climates ranging from the warm tropics to the frigid Antarctic.
Penguins have a fusiform (tapered) shape and are are great swimmers. All penguins are countershaded, they have a white underside and a dark upperside.
There are 17 species of penguins: Emperor, King, Adelie, Gentoo, Chinstrap, Macaroni, Royal, Fiordland, Erect-Crested, Snares Island, Yellow-eyed, Fairy (Little Blue), Magellanic, Humboldt, Black-Footed and Galapagos.
Penguin Facts
- Penguins are birds.
- Their name is derived from Welsh terms ‘pen’, meaning head and ‘gwyn’, meaning white.
- Penguins do not live at the North Pole.
- Penguins mate for life.
- Their average lifespan is 15-20 years.
- Penguins have insulating layers of air, skin, and blubber.
- The Emperor penguin is the largest penguin.
- Penguins spend as much as 75% of their time underwater.
- Penguins like to slide across the ice on their big stomachs.
- Most penguins can swim about 15 miles per hour.
- There may be as many as 100 million penguins in the world.
Behavior
Penguins live in large groups called colonies or rookery. Penguins communicate with each other using various gestures, movements and sounds to indicate if they sense danger. Penguins eat fish, crustaceans and squid. They use their wings like paddles for swimming.
Reproduction
Penguins reach sexual maturity after approximately 3-8 years. Breeding season occurs from the Southern hemisphere’s spring through summer period. Emperor penguins breed annually during the antarctic winter.
Both parents take turns incubating the egg. The incubation period lasts from 4 weeks (Erect-Crested penguins) to 66 days (Emperor penguins). Chicks first occur by poking a small hole in the egg and they require attentive parents for survival. Once a chick has fledged, it is able to swim and becomes independent of its parents.