Some basic infor about penguins

Enjoying these following penguin facts about their living place, diet and mating and baby penguins

Where do penguins live?

Considered marine birds, penguins live up to 80 percent of their lives in the ocean, according to the New England Aquarium. All penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere, though it is a common myth that they all live in Antarctica. In fact, penguins can be found on every continent in the Southern Hemisphere. It is also a myth that penguins can only live in cold climates. The Galapagos penguin, for example, lives on tropical islands at the equator.

What do penguins eat?

A penguins diet consists primarily of fish, squid and krill.

Depending on the species of penguin their food preference can vary which also helps reduce competition for food.

Large colonies are able to consume millions of pounds of food on a daily basis.

Penguins rely on their eyes to find food while underwater.

Most dives for food do not exceed 60 feet, although some species are capable of diving nearly 2,000 feet for when hunting for prey.

They capture their prey by grabbing it with their bill and swallow their food whole.

Penguins are known to fast (stop eating) annually during breeding periods when they must watch their eggs, keep them warm and prevent them from being attacked by predators.

Before fasting they stock up by consuming large quantities of food so that they can build up enough energy from fat to last them throughout their fasting period.

Mating and baby penguins

A group of penguins is called a colony, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. During breeding season, penguins come ashore to form huge colonies called rookeries, according to Sea World.

Most penguins are monogamous. This means that male and female pairs will mate exclusively with each other for the duration of mating season. In many cases, the male and female will continue to mate with each other for most of their lives. For example, research has found that chinstrap penguins re-paired with the same partner 82 percent of the time and gentoo penguins re-paired 90 percent of the time.

At around three to eight years old, a penguin is mature enough to mate. Most species breed during the spring and summer. The male usually starts the mating ritual and will pick out a nice nesting site before he approaches a female.

After mating, the female emperor or king penguin will lay a single egg. All other species of penguins lay two eggs. The two parents will take turns holding the eggs between their legs for warmth in a nest. The one exception is theemperor penguin. The female of this species will place the egg on the male's feet to keep warm in his fat folds while she goes out and hunts for several weeks.

When penguin chicks are ready to hatch, they use their beaks to break through the shell of their eggs. This process can take up to three days. After the chicks emerge, the parents will take turns feeding their offspring with regurgitated food. Penguin parents can identify their offspring by unique calls that the chick will make.

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