1.
Penguin
Physiology
Penguins are some of the most highly
adapted, specialized birds in the world. Everything about their bodies is
designed to help them survive in their marine environment, including the frigid
waters near Antarctica.
- Body Shape:
Penguins have stout, compact bodies with short necks and rounded heads and
shoulders so they can be more streamlined swimmers. This body shape is
also more efficient for heat retention so the birds can stay warm in
inhospitable climates.
- Posture:
These birds have an upright posture with their legs and feet set far back
on their bodies. This is part of their streamlined shape, but it makes
walking more difficult and awkward, and instead, penguins often waddle.
- Flippers:
Penguins' wings are highly specialized flippers with fused elbows and wrists for greater strength in swimming. The wing shape is
very thin and tapered to further aid swimming.
- Plumage Color:
All penguins have black-and-white coloration called countershading. This type of camouflage protects the birds from
predators while on land an in the water, and it helps them stay disguised
from their prey as well. The exact markings vary from species to species.
- Plumage Structure:
From a distance it may seem that penguins have no feathers, but in fact
they have nearly three times as many feathers as flying birds. A penguin's
feathers are very short and compact, and are very densely arranged on its
body to provide better insulation in the water.
- Legs and Feet:
Penguins have short, thick legs and powerful webbed feet that aid in
swimming to a minor degree, though they use their flippers for their
primary underwater propulsion.
- Bill:
A penguin's bill
is specialized for its piscivorous diet, and the thick, strong bill is hooked on the
upper mandible to allow easier feeding on fish, krill and other aquatic animals. The exact shape of each
species' bill depends on its specific diet.
- Supraorbital Gland:
All penguins, and many other pelagic birds, have a specialized
supraorbital gland that helps extract excess salt from their blood and
excrete it through a special cavity in the bill. This helps keep the
bird's body chemistry balanced even when it spends much of its life in the
sea.
Penguin
Behavior
Penguins use their specialized
bodies for specialized behavior that helps them survive.
- Swimming:
Penguins are superb swimmers with the ability to dive well below the
water's surface in search of prey, including fish, krill, squid and other
creatures. They use their flippers to propel themselves through the water,
and they can stay below the surface for long periods without any
detrimental results.
- Fasting:
Depending on the species, penguins may fast up to 100 days or more at a
time during the breeding or moulting seasons when they are unable to enter
the water to hunt. During these types of fasts, they can lose a
significant proportion of their body weight.
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- Porpoising:
While swimming, penguins will leap out of the water in shallow arcs, a
maneuver known as porpoising. This can help them surprise prey or evade predators,
and it also helps them breathe and insulates their plumage with a layer of
tiny bubbles.
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- Tobogganing:
Penguins are ungainly walkers, and on land they often use tobogganing – sliding on their bellies and using their flippers
and feet to move and change direction. This is a faster, more efficient
way for penguins to travel over snow and ice.
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- Huddling:
To protect themselves from harsh winters, particularly in Antarctica,
penguins will huddle as a group to share body heat. This helps protect the
flock against wind and cold, and individual birds will change position
periodically so every bird has a better chance of survival.
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2. Unique
things of penguins
Penguins are unique birds with many
physical and behavioral adaptations that help them
survive in the southern oceans. These adaptations give the birds a distinct appearance and actions that both
birders and non-birders can easily recognize, and makes penguins some of the most familiar birds in the world.
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