Penguins?What are penguins?Many people think of penguins as mammals, (which is the group of warm-blooded fur covered animals that we humans belong to.). But they are of course a a bird. 
However, they are no regular bird. For they are the most marine adapted of all birds. They are covered with the most avian of all features feathers - but they cannot fly. Their ancestors are believed to have been petrel-like birds, and thus they have evolved from sleek flying birds to plump little swimmers. They 'fly' underwater using flippers They are not only fast swimmers, but deep divers. The deepest diver is the Emperor penguin, which reaches almost half a kilometres in depth. Their feet are webbed, and the feathers are short and closely packed together over a layer of waterproof down.
It is said that most people can’t help but smile when they see a penguin; with their unusual upright bipedal posture (quite rare in nature), small feet, long arm like paddles and waddling gait,
they look like little people!
Where can I find penguins?There are 18 different types of penguins. Only 1 species is commonly seen around Australia, while this same species plus 2 others are regularly seen in New Zealand ‘mainland’ coastal waters. There are several more species that breed in sub-antarctic islands of the region. They are mainly found in the cooler temperate and polar waters of the southern hemisphere. One species does get into the tropics, the Galapagos Penguin (following a cold water current up the South American east coast), but they do not occur in the northern cold waters. Instead, there are the auks and allies, which in some ways are their equivalents. Many people think of the penguin as a polar species, but in fact the highest diversities are in the sun Antarctic regions, including southern South America (especially islands such as the Falklands) and in New Zealand where the highest diversity (13 species) is recorded.
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