We are going to learn about Penguins that live on Antarctica or on the islands around Antarctica.

Penguins are special birds that do not fly. They are excellent swimmers. They waddle and slide on their bellies to move on the ground. Many live on or near Antarctica.

The Emperor Penguin is the tallest penguin. They are about as tall as a Kindergartner about 3 feet 9 inches. They weigh about 66 pounds.

After the mother Emperor Penguin lays the egg, she gives it to the father to take care of while she hunts for fish. The egg stays under the Father’s egg flap and on his feet.

The mother comes back and the chick has just hatched or will hatch. The father leaves to hunt for fish. When he comes back, the mother and father take care of the chick.

Adelie penguins live in Antarctica. They live in big groups called colonies. They build nests for their eggs. They are loud penguins.

Adelie Penguin chicks are cared for by both parents. They lose their fluffy, downy baby feather at nine weeks and then they can swim.

Can you tell how the Chinstrap Penguin got its name? They are small penguins about 27 inches and 10 pounds. A little bigger than a newborn human baby. They are about the same size as Adeline’s and are loud, too.

Chinstrap Penguins live in big groups called colonies. The colonies can have hundreds of thousands of penguins in them.

They build nests of small stones. You can see that they are in a rocky place.

Gentoo penguins are a little bigger than Adelie and Chinstrap penguins. They are calmer and quieter than the Adelie and Chinstrap penguins, too. They are the fastest underwater swimming penguins.

Gentoo mothers lay two eggs in a nest and have two chicks. Both parents take care of their young.

Macaroni penguins are easy to identify. Look at those fancy feathers. They are also the smallest penguins in Antarctica.

The chicks will not get their beautiful yellow feathers until they are adults. Both mother and father take care of the chicks.

The King penguin is the second largest penguin. It looks very similar to the Emperor Penguin. Kings have more of an orange patch on their heads.

Their nesting is the same as the Emperor’s with the father caring for the egg until it hatches.

There is a big difference between the Emperor and King penguin chicks. The King Penguin chicks are brown and fuzzy. The Emperor penguins are gray with a black mask. King chicks look very different than adults.