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Penguin Awareness Day: January 20th

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Penguins are More Than Just Cute

Did you know that we have an entire day - January 20th - dedicated to Penguin Awareness? World Penguin Day - a different holiday, actually, in April of every year - coincides with the annual northward migration of penguins. A native creature of Antarctica, bookmark January 20th as a day to learn a little more about these ever-formal creatures...or sit down and watch Happy Feet!

Southern Natives

Penguins are native to Antarctica, and are flightless birds. But wait...how can they be birds if they're flightless? They fly through the water - the "wings" that they have are more like flippers, better suited for water than air.

It's amazingly sad, too, that penguins are slowly going extinct; most say that there are currently between 17 and 20 extant penguin species. But long ago in geological time - there were even penguins in tropic and sub-tropic regions - they weren't always cold-weather creatures.

Penguin Misconceptions

Penguins and polar bears are not actually on the same continent - penguins are in the South, polar bears are in the North - so while we may see Santa with polar bears, penguins wouldn't be around...and while we may see Santa with giant and life size toy soldiers or building lifesize nativity sets or hanging Christmas decorations, there shouldn't be any penguins in the scene, as sad as it may be not too see them there. They're quite cute, aren't they?