Penguin Facts

In terms of numbers, penguins are a small family, consisting of eighteen species in six genera.

The IUCN lists four species as endangered: the Northern Rockhopper Penguin (Eudyptes moseleyi); the Erect-crested Penguin (Eudyptes sclateri), the Yellow-eyed Penguin (Megadyptes antipodes) and the Galapagos Penguin (Spheniscus mendiculus).

All penguins are redisdents of the Southern Hemisphere, especially the areas in and around the Southern Ocean and Antarctica. However some penguins also live along the coastal areas of South America, the Galapagos Islands, South Africa, Southern Australia and New Zealand.

Here are some more interesting penguin facts.

• The world's largest penguin is the Emperor penguin.
• The world's smallest penguin is the Little Blue Penguin (Eudyptula minor), also called the Fairy Penguin.
• Penguins only lay one egg at a time.
• Different penguins swim at different speeds. Generally larger penguins swim faster and overall penguins can swim between 8 miles per hour and 15 miles per hour.
• Penguins do not have teeth. They have to catch and swallow their food (fish and krill) whole. The hooks in their mouth help stop the fish from swimming away once they are caught.
• Most penguin species are social birds, living and breeding in colonies that can number in the tens of thousands.
• All penguins have similar black and white body feathers. However, different species have different colored beack and hair styles. Eudyptes species, for example, have yellow crests of hair on their heads.

© 2010 Patricia A. Michaels