IDENTIFIER: PENGUINS

Want to p-p-pick out a penguin? Use our handy guide to help

Emperor Penguin

Far from featherweight, this is the heaviest and tallest of all penguins. Its girth is necessary to survive the freezing climes of Antarctica.

Northern and Southern Rockhopper Penguin

Small and feisty, with incredible eyebrows; the name refers to its style of movement rather than music preference, hopping from rock to rock.

African Penguin

The only penguin endemic to Africa has special adaptations for coping with heat. Those pink face patches are used to thermoregulate and cool down.

King Penguin

May be regal, but no airs and graces about this silver cloaked beauty – both parents share the day-to-day duties of caring for egg, then chick.

Macaroni Penguin

Southern Ocean dweller, named after an 18thcentury men’s style of feathered hat. A species in decline, hopefully they will never go out of fashion.

Little Penguin

Water babies who spend the whole day at sea catching anchovies, sprats and arrow squid. Babelike in size too – they’re about as big as a jackdaw.

Gentoo Penguin

Identifiable from the longer tail and white patches above the eye, this real gent(oo) enjoys picking up stones and presenting them to females.

Humboldt Penguin

Normally found in South America, in the 1930s they caught the attention of a designer visiting London Zoo. Lo, the Penguin Books logo was born.

Yellow-eyed Penguin

This New Zealander is a real old bird, with a bloodline that’s unchanged for 15 million years – making him one of the most ancient birds alive.