Penguin Facts

Penguin Facts

1.  Penguins do not fly.  They hop walk or toboggan.
2.  Penguins are expert divers and swimmers.
3.  Penguins have a thick layer of fat called blubber under their skin.
4.  Female penguins lay eggs, but it is the male penguins’ job to protect the egg until it hatches. Males hold  the egg on the top of their feet hunching down so that their skin covers and warms the egg.
5.  Penguins raise their chicks in colonies called “rookeries” and there may be thousands of penguins in one rookery. 
6.  Emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) are the largest penguin species. 
7.  Emperor penguins are the only animals that breed during the Antarctic winter 
8.  Because there are no nesting materials, Emperor penguins incubate the single egg on their feet. In relation to the body size of the female the egg is rather small; it weighs only about 450 grams.
9.  Emperor penguin diets consist of a mixture of fish, krill and squid.
10. Antarctica is the coolest, windiest place on Earth. 
11. Antarctica is a desert. In the continent’s interior,the average annual precipitation is only about two inches, less than the Sahara.
12.  In some places of Antarctica, like the Dry Valleys, it has not rained for thousands of years. 
13.  If Antarctica were to melt, the sea level would rise over 200 feet. 
14. Only 2% of the land in Antarctica is not covered in ice.