World Penguin Day

Observed the world over on April 25th, World Penguin Day recognizes one of the unique birds on the planet.  There are 17 species of penguins, and all their natural habitats are in the Southern hemisphere.

Did you know the Emperor Penguin is the biggest of the 18 penguin species and the largest of all birds? There are estimated to be (2017) approximately 595,000 adult Emperors today, and from birth, they spend their entire life around the Antarctic ice. These wondrous critters also incubate their eggs like other birds; only they can do so in temperatures nearing -50 degrees Celsius – that’s cold!

Emperor Penguins are the tallest… about 4 feet tall. The smallest, Little Blue, stands about 16 inches. And Penguins are excellent swimmers with the fastest penguin swimmer getting up to about 22 mph.

HISTORY

National Penguin Day began in 1972 when Gerry Wallace wrote the event on his wife’s (Aleta’s) calendar in Alamogordo, California. They later brought the celebration to the Naval Weapons Center in Ridgecrest, California where the Penguin Patrol made the news. April 25th is also the date that the Adelie penguins begin their migration northward toward Antarctica.

5 PRETTY COOL THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT PENGUINS

1. They kidnap chicks

   When a female emperor penguin’s baby dies, she will often “kidnap” an unrelated chick.

2. They’re down south

   There are 17 species of penguins and all of them live in the Southern Hemisphere.

3. Macaroni penguins rule

   The penguin species with the highest population is the macaroni penguin with 11 million pairs.

4. The fastest penguin

   The gentoo Penguin is the fastest swimmer — reaching speeds up to 22 mph.

5. They’re all wet (usually)

   An average penguin might spend up to 75 percent of its life in the water — where it also hunts for prey.

NATIONAL PENGUIN DAY DATES