A day of penguins

Take a nice look at this image. If this was made compressed even more, one would think these are crowd of people with black woolen clothes walking on snow as if some special person came here. But, if one enlarges the image, then these are colony of penguins ,one of the iconic avians (birds) of the Southern hemisphere not just from the frozen Antarctica but also from the temperate coasts of South Africa, New Zealand etc.

On the occasion of World penguin day i.e. today, this post gives really fascinating trivia and also creates awareness about some of these adorable birds on the planet. In fact, they are so much loved that the country of Norway once knighted a real one.

Beginning with the introduction, many people are aware that penguins aren't a single species of birds. Though the numbers are under debate, there are around 20 species of penguins ranging from the tall and bulky Emperor penguin standing (49-99 lbs;up to 41-52 inches tall) to the small little blue or fairy penguin (2 lbs;12-13 inches tall) shown in the image on the left.



One would think of deepest diving bird as gannets or boobies. But, the emperor penguin clinches the trophy for the deepest diving bird with total depth of 1,800 ft deep inside the ocean. So, not only an emperor of penguins in terms of size and height but also in diving.


Penguins do boast two kinds of talents. When in water, they porpoise i.e. cut through the waves and jump akin to dolphins. When out of water, they engage in behavior of tobogganing when they leap out like launched missiles and land and then slide on their tummies surprisingly without wounding them.

Coming to their diet, penguins feed on variety of items like fishes, krill etc. And yes, penguins themselves are prey species to many animals like leopard seals, killer whales (orca) and sharks. Surprisingly, they drink plenty of seawater without consuming salt. Thanks to one of their glands i.e. the supra orbital glands near their eyes to filter out salt. 
Living wise, all penguins are monogamous living with one partner. Wondered whether there is any other animal (apart from humans) who propose their fiance.  Yes, is the baffling answer as penguins do it. For Gentoo penguins, the pebble is the wedding ring as the males use it to woo. For King penguins, the long duration songs of males are the wedding rings to their mates. Sounds really romantic!!   
  
Lastly, about their adaptations. Wonder how Antarctica's penguins stay warm? Apart from blubber which is a fat to stay warm, species like Emperor penguins huddle together to stay really warm in such a frozen environment.

Finally, about their awareness. As it is known that penguins too are susceptible to global warming or climate change like polar bears, walruses etc. population declines have been reported. Many species of penguins are in danger of vanishing either in this century or by the end. Its not just warming, but humans who collect them for food is also quite alarming. So, its time to act now on these causes before the disappearance of these much loved birds.