Picking up on the life of the penguins
Penguins: Meet the Family BBC1, 6.30pm
THEY’RE speedy swimmers, adorable waddlers, and movie stars thanks to leading roles in March of the Penguins, Happy Feet, Surf’s Up and Madagascar. Let’s be honest, who doesn’t love penguins?
But although they are one of the world’s favourite animals, how much do we actually know about the flightless birds?
For instance, did you know that a group of penguins in the water is called a raft, but on land they’re called a waddle?
And the black-and-white “tuxedo” look donned by most species is actually a clever camouflage called countershading that disguises them from predators such as leopard seals, sea lions, whales and sharks, and helps them catch prey including fish, squid, crabs and krill.
Penguins don’t have teeth, but instead utilise fleshy spines inside their mouths help them swallow fish.
While most species go through a “catastrophic moult” once a year, penguins huddle together for several reasons, including to retain warmth and to protect themselves from predators.
Some penguins species mate for life and many males gift females with rocks to woo them.
However, due to the intense fasting involved, the females often seek out chubbier guys who can go weeks without food while the ladies take their turn to hunt for fish.
There is a bit of disagreement on the exact number of penguin species, but there are generally thought to be around 18 types currently living on Earth – king, emperor, Adélie, chinstrap, gentoo, little, Magellanic, Humboldt, Galápagos, African, yellow-eyed, Fiordland, Snares, erect-crested, southern rockhopper, northern rockhopper, royal and macaroni.
In this special documentary, narrated by Liz Bonnin, viewers are introduced to them all.
Although everyone imagines penguins on the ice in Antarctica or taking a break on a passing iceberg, we find out they are also found in South Africa, Chile, Peru, Galápagos Islands, New Zealand, Australia and a number of sub-antarctic islands.
It is true though that penguins are very nearly exclusive to the southern hemisphere, and there are only a few living on the equator and in the northern hemisphere. But here we meet penguins living in places where you wouldn’t expect to see them – dense forests and city streets.
There is heartwarming footage of an emperor penguin chick stepping away from the safety of it father’s feet and experiencing its first flurry of snow.
Plus, while majestic king penguins swap their ragged feathers for a brand new outfit, audiences will also join different penguins as they battle the elements, face the perils of rock climbing and confront sea lions.
We will also see how these wonderful characters become devoted parents, and discover how satellite imagery is revealing new penguin colonies we never knew existed before.
Doug Mackay-hope, executive producer at BBC Studios Natural History Unit, said: “What I love about this show is that many of us feel we know penguins and yet if asked, most have no idea that there are 18 different varieties out there. In Penguins: Meet the Family we celebrate all of them for the first time, giving viewers a unique opportunity to enjoy this much-loved animal family in a whole new light.”