Penguin Facts

Find out more about these unique and amazing birds. Enjoy our King Penguin and Emperor Penguin filtered penguin facts for kids. Find out more about these carnivores with the help of KidsPress Magazine.

• There are 17–20 species of penguins alive today.

• Most penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere.

• Penguins are birds with black and white feathers.
  

  Penguins molt, or lose their feathers, once a year.

• Most penguins swim underwater at around four to seven miles per hour.

• Like other birds, penguins don’t have teeth. Instead, they have backward-facing fleshy spines.

• Penguins are carnivores: they feed on fish, squid, crabs, krill and other seafood.

• They drink saltwater but with the help of a gland they filter salt from their bloodstream, which is then excreted by sneezing!

• Emperor penguins are the largest penguin species. They are nearly 4 feet tall and weigh up to 90 pounds.

• Penguin nesting areas are called “rookeries” and may contain thousands of pairs of birds.

• The King penguin hatches only one chick at a time.  Their chicks have fuzzy brown feathers for about a year after they are born.

• Little (a.k.a. Blue or Fairy) Penguins are the smallest of all the penguins.

• Emperor Penguins are the main characters in the 2006 movie Happy Feet.

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