Penguins are one of the oldest kinds of birds. It is believed that penguins have been around for 50 million years. The first penguin fossil was discovered in New Zealand in 1849 and is now kept at the British Museum of Natural History.

Penguin fossils were discovered in Australia about 1888, but they were not recognised as being from penguins until 1957. Fossils were found in South America around 1891 and on Seymour Island, Antarctica in 1903. All of the penguin fossils found in South America have been found in the southern part of Argentina and they all come from the same age (about 35 million years ago). Penguin fossils were not found in South Africa until 1970.

History of the name

The name “penguin” was originally given to a bird that is now called the Great Auk. It was a large flightless bird with black and white markings. It was native to the North Atlantic Ocean (The great Auk has been extinct since 1844). When adventurers started exploring the southern oceans, they discovered more birds that resembled the northern “penguin” and called them penguins too. (As we still do today.)

Although it is not documented, it is believed that Portuguese sailors discovered the South African Black Footed Penguin as early as the 1480s. Ferdinand Magellan is credited with the first documented discovery of penguins, around 1500. The Megellanic Penguin is named after him (though some sources say that the penguin is named after the Straits of Magellan, where they are found, not after the explorer).

Largest of the penguins

The Emperor Penguin

Height 3 ½ feet

Weight 80-90 lbs

Range Antarctic continent

Breeding season begins in March

Nesting one egg incubated by the male for 64-67 days

Fledgling stage 4-5 months

They are the longest lived of the penguins, with a life span of up to 50 years (as opposed to the average life span of 10 years for the other species). Emperor penguins have yellow patches around their ears and at their throat, and a long narrow bill. The Emperor is the only animal that spends winter on the Antarctic continent. At the height of the Antarctic winter, it is dark 24 hours a day and blizzards rage with temperature of minus 80 degrees and winds of 120 mph.

The King Penguin

Height 3 feet

Weight 35-45 lbs

Range the Islands surrounding the Antarctic continent

Breeding season begins in October

Nesting one egg incubated by both the parents for 54-56 days

Fledgling stage 13 months

 Physically the King Penguin resembles the Emperor in many ways. They are slightly smaller, standing about three feet tall. Because they don't face the extremes in weather, and prolonged fasting that the Emperor does, the King penguin is much slimmer, weighing half the Emperor's weight (about 45 lbs). The colourful patches around the ears and throat are darker and more 'orangish' than the Emperor's.

Stiff-tailed Penguin

The Adelie Penguin

Height 2 ½ feet

Weight 11 - 13 lbs

Range Coastal Antarctica

Breeding season starts in October

Nesting two eggs incubated by both the parents for 35-37 days

Fledgling stage seven weeks

Like the entire Stiff-tailed group, the Adelie has a long (compared to other penguins) sweeping tail, and a white ring around its eyes. The Adelie Penguin is one of the two species of penguins which are truly polar (the other is the Emperor). The Adelie lives at sea, on the pack ice, during the winter and nests along the Antarctic coastline in summer.

The Chinstrap Penguin

Height 27 inches

Weight 8 - 14 lbs.

Range Antarctic Peninsula and nearby islands

Breeding season late October to February

Nesting two eggs incubated by both the parents for 35 days

Fledgling stage eight weeks

The Chinstrap Penguin is the smallest of the Stiff-tailed penguins. The Chinstrap gets its name from the narrow black line across its white throat. They are also sometimes called the Ringed or Bearded penguins. They are very aggressive and territorial. The Chinstrap Penguin colonies tend to be very large, with populations in the millions. They are the most numerous of all the penguin species. One colony has been estimated to have 14 million birds.

The Gentoo Penguin

Height 32 inches

Weight 12 - 19 lbs

Range Antarctic Peninsula and sub Antarctic islands

Breeding season varies by location, September to March

Nesting two or three eggs incubated by both the parents for 35 -37 days

Fledgling stage eight weeks

The Gentoo Penguin — third largest of the penguin species — has large, distinctive white patches over their eyes. Gentoo penguins have a timid and docile disposition. The distribution of Gentoo penguins is very wide spread, and they range farther north than the other two species of Stiff-tailed penguins. They are not migratory and stay near their breeding grounds all year long.

Crested Penguin

All Crested penguins have flashy yellow or orange crests on the sides of their heads and red or reddish-brown eyes. Their beaks are reddish or orangish in colour. They are very similar in appearance. The main differences between the species are size, shape and colour of the crest. Crested penguins spend about half of the year at sea. The time frame of the breeding cycle varies for the different species, with the northern species (living in the milder climate) breeding earliest.

Except for a few Macaroni penguins, in a colony on the Antarctic Peninsula, all the Crested penguins breed on islands around the Antarctic Continent, sometimes two species breed in the same rookery.

Tropical penguins

The Black footed Penguin

Height 27 inches

Weight 10 lbs

Range southern shores of South Africa

Breeding season February and September

Nesting two eggs incubated by both the parents for 42 days.

Fledgling stage 90 days

The Black-footed Penguin has only one chest band. It is sometimes called the Jackass penguin (because of its loud braying call), or the South African penguin. They are considered by some to be the most attractive of the warm weather penguins. The Black-footed penguin is considered a “threatened” species. There are approximately 100,000 - 200,000 birds. They are very vulnerable to oil spills, because so many oil tankers travel through their waters. Also in the past it was common practice to harvest their eggs. Between 1900 and 1930 half a million eggs were collected every year from one colony alone. In 1972, it was estimated that the total population of Black-footed penguins was 170,000. This is only 10 per cent of their former numbers.

Miscellaneous penguins

The Yellow-Eyed Penguin

Height 26 inches

Weight 10 lbs

Range Southern New Zealand and nearby islands

Breeding season August to May

Nesting two eggs incubated by both the parents for 40 to 50 days.

Fledgling stage 3 1/2 months

The Yellow-Eyed Penguin is named for its yellow, cat-like eyes. It also has a pale yellow band of feathers around its head, like a crown. Unlike other penguins it is not very colonial, and does not form large rookeries, nor does it migrate. It is a very timid bird and moves away when approached. It is also endangered; the population is estimated as less than 10,000 birds.

The Fairy Penguin

Height 14 inches

Weight 2 1/2 lbs

Range Southern Australia and New Zealand

Breeding season July to November, may breed twice a season.

Nesting two eggs incubated by both the parents for 36 to 42 days

Fledgling stage 8 weeks

The Fairy Penguin is also known as the Little Blue penguin. It is the smallest of all the penguins. The Fairy penguin is slate blue in colour, with a white under side. The Fairy penguin is a very vocal bird, with a wide range of unusual sounds barking, bleating, braying, cackling, growling, hissing, mooing, quacking, screaming, sneezing, trumpeting, and even meowing like a cat. The Fairy penguin spends its days at sea, but for fishing; it comes to shore in the evenings, and is the most nocturnal of all the penguins. It is not migratory. The Fairy penguin is very agile on land, and is a good climber, using its bill, flippers, and feet to scramble up steep cliffs. i

Source Internet (www.eliasde signs.com/penguins)