Penguins are flightless birds that are aquatic and everything about their body shape is tuned for swimming. They are known for their black and white feathers and their short legs. Unlike most birds, penguins are not able to fly but their flipper-like wings make them a powerful swimmer. There are 18 different species of penguin in the world and they vary in size and shape. Penguins are social birds that live together in groups. All species of penguin can be found in the southern hemisphere, from Antarctica to the tropical Galapagos Islands. Penguin population are declining due to diseases, climate change, pollution, and decreasing in food sources. Abstracts Traits Penguins tobogganing over ice to move faster. From, artflakes.com Breeding Penguins usually mate, nest and raise their chicks at special nesting area on the shores. They build their nesting area with whatever material they could find. Breeding seasons vary among species, the annual breeding seasons for most species is during spring through summer (seaworld.org, 2002). Mate selection is up to the female and they usually select the same male from the previous year. Nesting habitats and nesting materials vary among species to species, for example; emperor penguins prefer ice areas with fairly level surface and sheltered from winds while chinstrap penguins nest on fairly steep slopes. Their egg shapes and sizes vary among species. Prey Penguins eat seafood, mainly fishes and krill but they also eat squid and crustaceans. Food preferences are slightly different from species to species (Chiaradia, 2012). The amount of food consumed depends on its overall size. Penguins feed at sea they rely on their vision to locate prey. They catch prey with their bills while their spiny tongue and powerful jaw help grip the pray from falling. They swallow food as whole. Many species prefer to hunt near the shoreline but will travel various distances in search of food. Penguins often consume more when there’s more food because it allows them to build up layers of fat. Penguins go through fasting period during nesting season; they do not leave nesting areas to feed. Instead, they used their built up fat layer for energy until the molt is over. As soon as the egg is laid, the male are left at nesting area to watch and keep the egg warm while the female go out looking for food. After hatching, the chick is fad by both of its parents until it can hunt on its own. Penguins don’t live near fresh water; they have a gland that takes salt out of the sea water that they drink. List of penguin species Adelie Penguins, Macaroni Penguins, Chinstrap Penguins, African Penguins, Erect-crested Penguins, Galapagos Penguins, Gentoo Penguins, Fiordland Penguins, Humboldt Penguins, Emperor Penguins, King Penguins, Yellow-eyed Penguins, Little Blue Penguins, Magellanic Penguins, Rockhopper Penguins, Royal Penguins, Snares Penguins, Fairy Penguins. All penguin species are native to Southern Hemisphere. Many penguins live at the South Pole on Antarctica, but not all penguins live in such a cold climates. They can be found on the coasts of South America, Africa, Australia, New Zealand and the Galapagos Islands. Most penguins live on remote islands and regions free from land predators. Different species thrive in varying climates, from freezing cold climate to tropical climates. Some live on thick ice while others live on sandy beaches very close to the equator. Penguins do not migrate great distances and they generally return to colonies where they were hatched and breed. Penguins live close to water where they can swim and hunt for food. Their body is designed to easily adapt to water. They are able to live in the coldest part of the world because their feathers keep the water for rechecking their body. Most penguins live close to cold regions because their main food sources such as fish, krill, squid, and crustaceans are found in colder water. World Penguin Distribution marked in orange. The picture show that all penguin species live in Southern Hemisphere. From, defenders.org Threats Climate change is the main cause of threats to penguins. Due to rising temperature, penguin population has decrease about nearly 80 presents (defenders.org). Study show that global temperature has been increasing and the annual sea ice melting season also extended. The loss of ice means less food for penguins because their main pray depend on polar ice to reproduce. Also, penguins are not able to reach their food source because the currents and moving much faster. Climate change could also affect their habitat, forcing the penguins to move and find new place to live and breed. Other threats to penguins are humans because of food competition. Human reduce the food available for penguins, we are able to catch mass quantities of marine organism due to advance in technology. Penguins can get caught in nets and suffer from other harmful fishing techniques. Oceanic pollution such as oil spill, leak fuel and trash in the ocean can destroy penguin's habitat. Penguins suffer a lot from water pollution, oil can be toxin and poisonous when it stays on the penguin. Penguins face many danger, they are eaten by marine mammals such as seals, sea lions and orcas. They are safer on land but smaller penguins can be attack by numbers of birds such as sea eagle. Skaus usually work in pairs, one will distract the penguin and the other will snatch the egg. They don't really have any weapons to fight off predators. Larger penguins have a better chance of getting away from certain predators. Range Two Skaus teaming up to steal the egg from the adelie penguin (Pennycook, 2009). Conservation There are many steps we can take to protect penguins and improve their environments. Enforcing better policies and regulation can lessen oil pollution and other oceanic pollution. Society can help by preventing overfishing and buying from fishers that practice fishing methods that are more sustainable. We can help keep the world's ocean clean by recycling and disposing trash properly. Help slow global climate change by using energy efficient appliances and reducing daily energy use. We can also help by donating to penguin conservation organizations and volunteering to care for penguins. Anyone who loves these unique birds learns the threats and takes step to protect them. References http://www.artflakes.com/en/products/emperor-penguins-tobogganing, accessed 11/25/13 http://www.defenders.org/penguins/basic-facts, accessed 11/25/13 http://www.defenders.org/penguins/threats, accessed 11/25/13 http://www.seaworld.org/infobooks/penguins/physical.html, accessed 11/25/13 CHIARADIA, A., FORERO, M. G., HOBSON, K. A., SWEARER, S. E., HUME, F., RENWICK, L., & DANN, P. (2012). Diet segregation between two colonies of little penguins Eudyptula minor in southeast Australia. Austral Ecology, 37(5), 610-619. doi:10.1111/j.1442- 9993.2011.02323.x. Fordyce, R., & Ksepka, D. T. (2012). THE STRANGEST BIRD. Scientific American, 307(5), 56-61. Halsey, L. (2002). Ultimate divers. Biologist, 49(4), 161. Lu, Y., Tieyan, L., Bo, L., Yi, S., Jinfeng, C., Jinfeng, S., & ... Mingsheng, C. (2012). Modeling Huddling Penguins. Plos ONE, 7(11), 1-8. pennycook, J. Penguins 1 – skuas 0. Retrieved from http://icestories.exploratorium.edu/dispatches/penguins-1-skuas-0/ Penguins are known for their tuxedo-like black and white coloring called counter shading. This protects the penguins from predators in the sea and on land as well. Penguins are shaped like a torpedo; they have round compact bodies with short necks and round big head that help them adapted to water. They have denser bones, subcutaneous fat and thick skin for protection. Their body is designed to help them survive in marine environment and help them stay warm in extremely cold climates. They are awkward on land and they often waddle due to their legs and feel being set far back on their bodies. They have short legs and webbed feet that allow them to jump from rock to rock, move faster over ice and aid in swimming. Unlike other birds, penguins have short compacted and waterproof feathers help keep themselves warm. Penguin’s wings are tapered, flat and very thin, they cannot fly but their specialized flipper wings make them a power swimmer (Fordyce, 2012). When under water, penguin uses the wings to speed and the legs and feet for direction changes. Penguins spends many of their lives in the sea, they have supraorbital gland that helps extract salt from their body and keep the bird's body chemistry balanced. Different species of penguins can be identified by their head and facial marking (seaworld.org, 2002). The largest penguin is the emperor penguins; average stands about 45 inches tall and weighs 90 pounds. The smallest is the fairy penguin; these bids stand 10 inches tall on average and weight about 2.5 pounds. Order: Sphenisciformes, Family: Spheniscidae, Class: Aves Behavior Penguins are social birds that swim, feed, and nest together in groups. They are highly adapted to life in water and spend as much as 75% of their time there. Unlike many aquatic birds, penguin species are considered to show more impressive breath holding capabilities (Halsey, 2002). The emperor penguins can dive for well over 10 minutes. They can dive well below the water's surface to find prey. They can swim as fast as fifteen miles per hours. While swimming penguins usually leap in and out of water in shallow arcs known as porpoising which help them breathe. To move faster on ice, penguin use tobogganing, lying on their stomach and sliding on ice using their flippers and feet for propulsion. Because penguins walk slowly, tobogganing can also help them escape from predators. Penguins can also bounce up to 5 feet. During the winter, penguin huddle in groups to protects themselves against wind and cold (Lu, 2012). This helps them share body heat and give them a better chance of survival because the birds change position. Lal Cin Penguins