Penguin Facts

About the penguin

Life is split about evenly between land and sea. In the water, penguins chase krill, fish and squid, snapping them up with their bills and gulping them down whole while swimming. A spiny tongue and strong jaws help them hold on to slippery prey. The Galapagos penguin is the only species living at the equator, and a little north of it.

Sizes vary a lot. The emperor penguin is the largest living species, with adults averaging about 1.1 m (3 ft 7 in) tall and 35 kg (77 lb). At the other end, the little blue penguin, also called the fairy penguin, stands only 30 to 33 cm tall. In general, bigger penguins live in colder places and smaller ones in temperate or tropical waters.

Did you know?

• Some prehistoric penguins grew as tall or as heavy as an adult human.
• Around 35 million years ago, a giant penguin species lived about 2,000 km south of the equator.
• The little blue penguin weighs only about 1.2 to 1.3 kg.