Penguins
by Sarah R.
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Penguins by Sarah R.
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The penguin is an unusual animal. It is a water bird, but it cannot fly. Penguins have short wings, shaped like flippers. Penguins fly through the water by moving their flippers. Penguins fly through the water by moving their flippers. They swim fast in the water, up to fifteen miles per hour. The wings have large flat bones inside them to keep from bending. Most penguins can swim faster and dive deeper in the water than any other bird. The body of a penguin looks like a submarine. Most penguins and black and white. They have white chests and bellies and black backs and heads. Penguins can survive in very cold weather. They have a layer of fat under their skins which keeps them warm. Penguins make heat inside their bodies which means they are warm blooded.
The blackfooted penguin lives off the coast of South Africa where the temperature is warmer. The blackfooted penguin lays its eggs in an underground nest. The nest if made of sticks, old feathers and seaweed. The mother penguin has either one or two eggs at a time. The colors of the eggs are white or green. The mother and father penguin keep the eggs warm with a spot of bare skin on their belly called a brood patch. The baby floats in liquid inside the eggs and curls up like a ball. The baby penguin inside the egg can be a small as a lima bean . As a adult penguin , it can be between 12" -18" tall and weighs about 8 lbs. Both parents feed their baby likes to eat half digested fish from its parents. As a adult , it can eat ifs , squid , and krill.
The baby penguin uses an egg tooth , to help it crack open the egg shell. The egg tooth is a small sharp bump on the penguin beak. It falls off in a few days . When the baby penguin makes a hole in the shell , this is called the pip hole. After the baby hatches , it is called a chick. Blackfoot penguin eggs hatch in 32 to 36 days. When baby penguins hatch , some are bald but some have feathers that look like fur. The feathers are usually black and cover all the penguin except its beak and webbed feet.
As the baby gets older , the feathers turn a soft gray color , called baby down. Baby down is not waterproof , which means they cannot go into the water or they will drown. The baby penguins lose their down when they are about one month old. New adult feathers grow in place of the baby feathers and this is called molting. These adult feathers are waterproof because the penguin spreads oil on them with their breaks. To keep cold air and water away from their body , the penguin feathers lay on top of each other in thick layers. After being a chick , the penguin , then becomes a juvenile . The color of the juvenile penguins' feathers are dark gray with an off-white belly . When the juvenile penguin molts again next year , it will have a black chest stripe , black face and a bright white belly.
Bibliography
Pomona , The Birth of a Penguin , Catherine Paladino
Penguins, Zoo Books, John Bonnett Wexo
The Sea World Book of Penguins, Frank S. Todd
Funk and Wagnal's Encyclopedia,1972
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