natureatitsbest12's video: A COLONY OF PENGUINS

Penguins are aquatic, flightless birds that are highly adapted to life in the water. Their distinct tuxedo-like appearance is known as countershading, a form of camouflage that helps keep them safe in the water. Penguins do have wing-bones, though they are flipper-like and extremely suited to swimming. Penguins are found almost exclusively in the southern hemisphere, where they catch their food underwater and raise their young on land. Their diet consists of Krill, fish and squid. Penguins closer to the equator eat more fish and penguins closer to Antarctica eat more squid and krill. Larger penguin species are found in colder climates where their large body mass enables them to cope with the conditions, while smaller penguins inhabit warmer climates. Penguins can be found on every continent in the Southern Hemisphere from the tropical Galapagos Islands (the Galapagos penguin) located near South America to Antarctica (the emperor penguin). Penguins can spend up to 75% of their lives in the water. They do all of their hunting in the water. Their prey can be found within 60 feet of the surface, so penguins have no need to swim in deep water. They catch prey in their beaks and swallow them whole as they swim. Some species only leave the water for molting and breeding.Penguins are social birds. Many species feed, swim and nest in groups. During the breeding season, some species form large groups, or “rookeries”, that include thousands of penguins. Each penguin has a distinct call, allowing individuals to find their mate and their chicks even in large groups. Penguins form monogamous pairs for a breeding season, though the rate the same pair recouples varies drastically. Most penguins lay two eggs in a clutch, although the two largest species, the emperor and the king penguins, lay only one.[53] With the exception of the emperor penguin, where the male does it all, all penguins share the incubation duties.[54] These incubation shifts can last days and even weeks as one member of the pair feeds at sea. video clips curtesy of http://www.videezy.com/members/DPMediaGroup This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/