April 4, 2021 - Penguins

I have a friend who knows basically everything there is to know about birds, and she was nice enough to write me a little bit about penguins (she asked for me not to include her name, but she is a genius):

Arguably the most diverse group of animals on the planet are the birds. Among the birds, we have a sub-group usually called penguins, that defy the usual idea that all birds fly. There are 17 species of penguin, ranging from the tiny Fairy Penguin at an average of 3.3 pounds to the enormous Emperor Penguin at around 51 pounds after their breeding season. It is sometimes thought that penguins are not in fact birds, because of their aquatic nature. Indeed, although penguins are birds, evolution has made them perfect for life in the water with their flippers for swimming down to the white color of their bellies so that when predators look up at penguins, it is difficult to discern the bird from the bright sky. The comical and endearing penguin does not only live in Antarctica, it lives in warmer areas too such as the Penguin named for the warm Galapagos islands in which it resides, and the African penguin that lives in, of course, Africa. Although there is much debate over exactly how many penguin species there are, the one thing everyone can agree on is how adorable these penguins are, and the extreme importance of protecting the penguin’s habitats, and them themselves.