penguins

Penguins are comical birds ... all dressed up a Formal Dinner. They have feathers, beaks and wings, and they lay eggs. Their closest relatives are other fish-eating seabirds: albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters.They live in the Southern Hemisphere.
In all, there are 18 species of penguins, found in South Australia, New Zealand, and off the coasts of Peru, Chile, and South Africa. Some species live as far north as the equatorial Galapagos Islands, but they are primarily cold-weather birds.
Penguins have a heavier skeleton than most birds, waterproof feathers, and specialized glands that extract and excrete excess salt. Their feathers, which even cover their bills and feet, combine with a thick layer of fat to insulate them. This works so effectively that the birds frequently overheat in the frigid waters. They vary, by species, from the sixteen inch, two and a half pound .They swim like other birds fly.
Their wings have more like flippers.Penguins breed in colonies and can be fiercely territorial ,and are such avid brooders that they will fight to mother a stray baby.

Penguins fall prey to leopard seals, sea lions, and killer whales. Skua gulls are the greatest natural threat to chicks and eggs. In their turn, penguins dive to hunt fish, squid and krill -- a small shrimp-like crustacean.