Southern Living First, we need to know all the places where penguins live. For starters, don’t look for them in the northern hemisphere. T at’s the half of Earth that’s north of the Equator. It’s too dangerous for most flightless birds there. Wolves, bears, and other land predators would gobble them up. It’s diff erent in the southern hemisphere.
At least 16 diff erent species, or kinds, of penguins live throughout this half of the world. T ey live in places where there are no natural land predators. Some slide on icy glaciers. Others hop
along windswept, rocky coasts. Still others nest in forests, on beaches, or on sunbaked lava rock. Each species is adapted to survive in its environment. To see how, we’ll start where you might
expect to find penguins. We’ll head as far south as possible to icy Antarctica. Here, the wind howls. Ice stretches as far as the eye can see. Temperatures can drop to -30°C (-22°F). T is is one of the harshest environments on Earth. It’s also home to five penguin species.
Keeping Warm It takes a tough bird to survive in Antarctica. T e emperor penguin is up to this task. First, an emperor penguin is huge. It’s the
biggest of all the penguin species. Males can weigh up to 40 kg (88 pounds). Part of that weight is extra fat, called blubber. Fat helps keep this bird warm in the Antarctic region. An emperor’s actions keep it warm, too.
On land, hundreds of these penguins will huddle together to share their body heat. T ey shiver. T e movement lets them make extra body heat to share. It’s easy to lose that body heat. It can escape
through any body part that touches the ice. So emperors have a way to touch as little ice as possible. T ey stand on their heels instead of on their whole feet. To fight the cold, these birds also don’t
stand still. T ey slowly move. Each emperor takes a turn on the outside of the group. T ere, it helps to block the wind. T at keeps the birds in the middle of the group warm. When a bird on the outside gets too cold, it slowly shuffles into the center to warm up.
Emperor penguin chicks huddle together to stay warm. 6 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORER
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