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Penguin Awareness Day

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Celebrate Penguins

Penguins are cute, funny-looking little birds dressed in tuxedos by Mother Nature. They don't fly like other birds, and they waddle when they walk.
The following is a list of interesting facts about these cute little creatures, as well as ideas to celebrate "Penguin Day" and links to merchandise and gifts for the penguin lovers.

Interesting Facts

- Penguins are birds.
- They are ancient species that appeared 40 million years ago in the Eocene.
- Their name is derived from Welsh terms 'pen', meaning head and 'gwyn', meaning white.
- Penguins do not live at the North Pole.
- Penguins mate for life.
-Penguins live in large colonies called rookeries.
- Their average lifespan is 15-20 years.
- Penguins have insulating layers of air, skin, and blubber.
- The Emperor penguin is the largest penguin.
- Penguins spend as much as 75% of their time underwater.
- Penguins like to slide across the ice on their big stomachs.
- Most penguins can swim about 15 miles per hour.
- There may be as many as 100 million penguins in the world.
-Penguins have no natural fear of humans.
-Although penguins are black and white some species have yellow head feathers.
-A penguin reaches sexual maturity between the ages of 3 to 8 years.

Penguin T-shirts

Kawaii Chill Penguin Child's T-Shirt shirt

Penguin Penguins Birds Antarctica Cartoon shirt

January 20 is Penguin Awareness Day

Penguin celebration ideas

- Wear black and white. Red bow tie optional.
- Send a Penguin Day e-card.
- Replace your desktop wallpaper with penguin pictures.
- Read "A Wish for Wings That Work," the classic Christmas story featuring Opus, the penguin from Bloom County.
- Go see (or rent) the film "Happy Feet!"

Kid Stuff for Penguin Awareness Day

- Color pictures of penguins.
- Have a penguin "hunt"! (No, no guns are allowed. This one is for kids old enough to use a search engine on their own.) Send them hunting for penguin-related items. Award an Eskimo Bar as first prize.
- Have a penguin dinner. Serve fish (sushi, if your family will eat it), shrimp and squid. Add a salad for human penguins.

While Penguin Awareness Day is always January 20, World Penguin Day is always April 25th.

Penguin Greeting Cards, Photo cards and Postcards

Art Card: Purple Penguin Party at the Zoo card

Cute Penguins Birthday Invitation Template card

Famous Penguins

Chilly Willy - A penguin who does not enjoy being cold, from the classic Walter Lantz cartoons.
Cletus - A minor character in Happy Feet. Voice by Robin Williams.
Cody Maverick, a fictional young surfing Rockhopper penguin, voiced by Shia LaBeouf, in the film Surf's Up.
The penguins in the movie Madagascar and its sequels.
Gloria - Mumble's girlfriend in Happy Feet. Voice by Brittany Murphy.
Tux - The official mascot of the Linux kernel.
The penguin waiters from Mary Poppins.
Fred - a penguin, who migrated from Antarctica to Ducktown in Sitting Ducks (TV series).

Gifts for Penguin Lovers

Global Warming and Penguins

A variety of species of penguins have been declining due to the effects of global warming. Starvation, habitat loss, and the fact that the penguins' world is literally breaking up under their feet are all contributing factors to dramatic population loss.

Adelie Penguins

In one instance, a large number of Adelie penguins were literally made prisoners and starved because global warming had unexpectedly altered their habitat.

In 2004, Antarctica's McMurdo Sound was blocked by the mountainous remnant of the world's largest iceberg. The iceberg cut off supply routes for several research bases on the sound and was so big that it blocked wind and water currents that would normally break up the ice in the sound and make access to the sea much easier for researchers and penguins. As a result, tens of thousands of Adelie penguin chicks and their parents were stranded inland with a 112-mile round trip being the shortest distance to gather food.

Experts estimate that the three colonies of Adelie penguins may have declined by up to 70%.
Rockhopper Penguins

The decline of the rockhopper penguin is another example of how warming temperatures are affecting these beloved birds. The number of rockhopper penguins breeding on one island has gone from 1.4 million to only 100,000 in the last 60 years--most likely due to warming waters surrounding the island.
Emperor Penguins

Even the movie-stars of the penguin world, the emperor penguins, are not safe from global warming. In fact, according to National Geographic News, the population of emperor penguins has been cut in half over the past 50 years (Penguin Decline in Antarctica Linked with Climate Change).

These amazing animals can withstand some of the harshest conditions on Earth, but they cannot continue to sustain themselves without krill--a shrimplike creature that is a staple of the emperor penguin's diet. The sea ice necessary to the survival of krill larvae is disappearing earlier and taking with it 80 percent of the krill population. The emperor penguins are starving to death because the warming air and water is drastically changing the environment to which they have adapted.

Reader Feedback

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gravityx9 Aug 9, 2011 @ 12:33 pm | delete

Penguins are adorable! And such good parents! I didn't know there was a Penguin Day, but I'm glad there is! They deserve a day of recognition.

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WindyWinters Dec 29, 2010 @ 11:07 pm | delete

Great Info on Penguins and I love your Penguin designs! Lensrolling to my penguin lenses!

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Evil-Penguin Jan 7, 2010 @ 4:52 pm | delete

Great lens for penguins and their lovers! Wait, that didn't sound right!

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nyxxie Jan 7, 2010 @ 2:22 pm | delete

What a wonderful lens dedicated to Penguins!

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Corisu Jan 7, 2010 @ 8:38 am | delete

Penguins are awesome and so is this lens!

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alinaspencil Jan 7, 2010 @ 3:05 am | delete

Well, of course, there ought to be a Penguin Day...otherwise, they got dressed up for nothing!

Alina
Alina's Pencil