Jan. 20 is Penguin Awareness Day. These amazing tuxedo-clad birds are a common favorite at the zoo because they've got so much personality to back up their good looks. They can often be seen swimming in the water and swooping down snowy hills, calling out to each other, bumping into each other and being altogether silly.
Here are five fun facts about our favorite flightless birds, provided by SeaWorld:
1. Full-grown penguins range in size from 2 to 80 pounds, depending on the species. The tiniest ones are aptly called Little or Fairy Penguins, and the largest are called Emperor Penguins.
2. Penguin eggs are cared for equally by the mother and the father, and they take turns keeping the eggs warm beneath them until it's time for them to hatch.
3. Penguins are pescetarian, eating mostly fish, squid and krill.
4. Penguins' distinctive black-and-white color is not just fashionable, it's functional! The belly is white, to help them blend in with the light streaming into the ocean while they're swimming to avoid aquatic predators. The top side is black for the same reason. While they're swimming in the dark ocean, their black back blends in with its surroundings, effectively hiding them from land-based predators.
5. There are 18 species of penguin, and you can get to know some of them in the image below from Peppermint Narwhal:
