Phenomenal+Penguins



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=Penguin Fast Facts: = To teach you a little bit about penguins, here are some penguin fast facts: 1. Emperor Penguins have an average of 110,000 feathers. 2. King Penguin adults are sleek and slender, however, their chick look like furry brown footballs! 3. Macaroni Penguins are named after a group of Brittish men who wore wild wigs, fancy clothes, and were called the Macaronis during the 18th century. 4. The Yellow Eyed Penguins who exist in New Zealand and nearby islands breed in forests. 5. Because of the high temperatures near the equator, the Galapagos Penguins cover their feet with their flippers to keep them from getting sunburned! 6. One species of penguins that grows extremely quickly is the Chinstrap species. Chinstrap penguins weigh only 3 ounces when they hatch, but about two months later, they weigh about 8 pounds. 7. Erect-Crested Penguins can lift their crest feathers up to stand straight up above their heads and then back down again. 8. The smallest species of penguins are the Little Penguins which are barely a foot and a half tall.



__About Emperor Penguins:__
As probably the most well-known penguin, the emperor penguin is the largest penguin known to man. It stands waist high to human adults and weighs up to 100 pounds. They have an average of 110,000 feathers. These unique animals live on squids and small fish which they chase underwater and catch with their "long razor-edged bills". The inside of an emperor penguin's mouth is covered with special, back-wards facing flesh, that helps prevent food from slipping out. Their tongues are also covered in this special flesh. It is amazing to think that because of their heavy bodies, emperor penguins can dive as much as 700 feet to catch food. They are also big enough to catch three foot long squids. Their average life span is about 20 years.

. ____Population:____
Population of the emperor penguin had been very small up to 1947. Only two colonies had been found until 1947, one in 1902, and one in 1912. Scientists thought that this was because the emperor penguins could not stand up to the harsh climates of Antarctica. It was also thought that the penguins were not surviving because much of the ice was breaking, which caused emperor penguin eggs and chicks to fall through into the bitter cold water. As of 1991, there have been 20 rookeries found and the emperor penguin population was about 500,000 penguins. Now, there are about 40 rookeries, each with 200 to 50,000 penguins.

__Mating:__
Emperor penguins breed during the darkness of the Arctic winter. The beginning of mating season is in about April or May. In the process of finding a mate, the penguins display their brilliant orange ear patches to each other. Once each penguin has found a mate, the female in each pair lays one, single egg. The egg is carried at the feet of both the mother and father. it is protected from the harsh climate and other dangers with a fold of skin. In the beginning, both the mother and father care for the egg and participate in the process of incubation, until the female leaves for sea a few days later. It is very common for two males to keep each other company while their partners are at sea. The father penguins will incubate the egg for about two or three months. During this time, they will go without any food, so they made sure to stock up before breeding. In September, the females will return from sea. To find her mate, the female must remember the sound of her mate's call. Once the pair is reunited, the egg is transfered from the father to the mother. If the egg is dropped,it will die within two minutes.

__The Baby Chick:__
When the chick hatches, it remains warm in its mother's skin flap. At this point, the male can leave for sea and satisfy its hungry belly with squid and fish. Once the male returns, the famale leaves and the pair continues to take turns after that. As the chicks begin to grow, they gather into groups called creches. These groups are almost like daycare for the chicks while their parents are feeding at sea. When the parents return, the chick meets up with them by knowing its parents' call.

__The Growing Chick:__
In the winter months, between December and February, the chicks' downy feathers are shed and are replaced with normal penguin feathers. At this point, the chicks leave their parents to live on their own. On their own, they must learn to swim and gather food for themselves. Eventualy, they will gather into a colony and find a mate. This will begin the whole cycle over again.