Transcript FLY FOR PENGUIS - Medford Township Public Schools

By: Quinlan Dixon
No time to lounge around, because
we have a plane ticket with our names
on it. We can’t wait forever to discover
the Royal and Humboldt penguins’
differences and similarities.
The differences between the two penguins lie ahead for
you to discover. You may be surprised to learn that we are
soaring above Macquarie Island, the only place the Royal
Penguin has been discovered to breed on. On the other
hand, the Humboldt Penguin is found breeding on the coasts
of South America, not on one Pacific island. Let’s decrease
altitude, so we can observe more closely.
Fascinatingly, these colorful
creatures are not look-alikes. The
Humboldt is mostly blackish-gray in
the color with a white breast. The
Royal has yellow feathers that grow
from its head to the back. In fact,
the Royal Penguin is 27.5inches tall
and is 8.8- 12 pounds. The
Humboldt Penguin is 26-28 inches
long and the weight is 8-13 pounds.
You may find that the similarities between the Humboldt
and Royal Penguins are just as fascinating as their
differences. HA HA HA HA! It is so cool and funny that they
can toboggan on their stomachs. But what is even similarly
as both, the Humboldt and Royal Penguins can drink water.
Speaking of water, they eat forms of sea life like krill, fish,
squid and more. More facts that the Humboldt and Royal
Penguins have in common are that the black and white
plumage serves as camouflage while swimming so they
aren’t spotted. Also, both Humboldt and Royals spend
around half their time in water and the other half on land.
Hop back in the copter, we are
heading home. I hope you had a fun
flight discovering both the similarities
and differences that make the South
Pole such a fun place.