More about Penguins!
Popular misconceptions about penguins
Penguins live anywhere it’s cold.
False. All penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere. They do not live at the North Pole, Alaska, Canada, or other northern places. Despite what you may have seen on TV or in the movies, no penguin has ever been chased by a polar bear or lived with Santa Claus.
All penguins live in Antarctica.
False. In fact, of the 17 species of penguins, only 5 live on Antarctica itself. Some live on nearby islands. Some live on the southern edges of Africa, Australia and South America. And one species of penguin actually lives on the Galapagos islands at the equator! (A cold current from Antarctica keeps the water cool for them.)
Penguins have fur to keep warm.
False. Penguins are birds. Like all birds, they have feathers. Penguin feathers are very short, very dense, and packed so tightly together they often looks like smooth skin.
Baby penguins are covered in fuzzy down to keep them warm. It may look like fur, but those are feathers.
Wanna learn more about penguins?
And – let’s face it – who doesn’t?
Nature
Website from the PBS show. Features photos, video and lots o’ links.
Perfectly Puzzling Penguins
A penguin site put together by grade school students at Pocantino Hills Central School outside of New York. Includes puzzles, games, and lots of bad penguin jokes!
Penguin webcam
Are there two more exciting words in the English language?
Antarctic Connection
Just the facts, ma’am. Also includes sound bytes.
National Geographic Kids
Site for emperor penguin, with info, video
Penguin poetry
Nobel Prize-winning poet Pablo Neruda of Chile once wrote a poem about the Magellanic penguin which lives along the southern coasts of South America. You can find the poem here:
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