Embark on a chilly adventure with our Penguin Word Search puzzle. Dive into the frosty world of these charismatic creatures as you search for words that capture their unique behaviors and icy habitats.
Perfect for wildlife enthusiasts and puzzle lovers alike, this free printable offers a cool way to explore the fascinating lives of penguins. Download now and slide into a world of exploration and fun!
From the Emperor’s regal stride to the Little Blue’s swift swim, penguins captivate with their adaptability and charm in the coldest climates on Earth.
Penguin Awareness Day is celebrated annually on January 20th.
Penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere spending up to 75% of their lives in water. Emperors are the largest and Macaroni penguins have the highest population.
The words included in this Penguin Word Search puzzle are – Camouflage, Chick, Colony, Diving, Emperor, Endangered, Feathers, Flightless, Flippers, Gentoo, Glacier, Habitat, Huddle, Incubate, Krill, Macaroni, Madagascar, Majestic, Migration, Molting, Preening, Swimmer, Tobogganing, Tuxedo, Underwater, Waddle, and Waterproof.
While we often think of penguins as cute aquatic birds that can’t fly, they are actually quite interesting and many of the nearly 20 species are considered endangered.
The Penguin Family
Most penguins live in the southern hemisphere in the countries of Argentina, Australia, Chile, New Zealand, and South Africa. The Emperor species live entirely in Antarctica so these aquatic birds are true southerners.
Living in colonies that range in size from several hundred to a million or more, penguins definitely subscribe to the philosophy that there is safety in numbers. They also usually live in remote coastal regions where their inability to fly is less of an issue for survival.
Many monogamous penguin relationships start out on rocky footing. One way the Gentoo males try to woo females is by bringing them pebbles. Maybe this is romantic to a penguin … or maybe these rock nests are just a way to keep melting ice water from flooding their homes!
Although they go their separate ways during the winter, many penguin pairs return to the same nesting location every breeding season and find each other through mating call recognition. Both penguin parents help with incubating the chicks, but the male Emperors actually are responsible for most of the egg incubation while their females leave to forage for food.
It truly takes a village, or actually a colony, for penguin chicks to thrive. Having multiple adults around to supervise and protect the young allows the parents the freedom to leave on fishing trips.
Designed With Purpose
The black and white coloring of penguin feathers is often compared to the look of a tuxedo but there is a definite purpose to this. Referred to as “countershading,” the black back and white belly actually serve as camouflage for a swimming penguin.
From up above, predators like sharks will be less likely to be able to distinguish the black back from the darkness of the ocean. And the white belly of the penguin will blend in with the bright water surface caused by sunlight to predators such as an orca or a leopard seal that are below the penguin. The white belly also helps camouflage the penguins from their own prey below which allows them to hunt for fish without being seen.
Instead of having hollow bones that allow other birds to stay aloft to fly, flightless penguins have solid bones which reduces the tendency to float while helping them swim better. And their thick feathers make them very hydrodynamic by keeping water out while also helping them stay warm.
Antics and Behaviors
Some of the behaviors of penguins are what make them seem so adorable. And yet these antics have a purpose. Tobogganing or sliding across the ice on their bellies helps save energy while moving greater distances.
Another thing that helps with the ability to glide on the ice is their preen gland which produces waterproofing oil. They spend several hours a day applying this oil over their feathers which insulates their bodies and improves their speed in the water.
Penguins feast on krill, fish, squid, crabs, and other seafood. In place of teeth, they have backward-facing fleshy spines that help guide the food down their throats. Since they catch their food in saltwater, they also have a built-in mechanism, a gland just above their eye, that filters excess salt from their bloodstream. This is then excreted through their bill by sneezing.
Previously hunted for their oil and eggs, penguins are now a protected species. They are excellent swimmers so can outswim many of their ocean predators at speeds of 20 miles an hour or more. When they are close to land, they can jump out of the water at a high speed and avoid their predators that way.
Fat Waddlers
Thick layers of feathers and extra reserves of body fat provide the insulation needed to live in the extreme cold of the southern hemisphere. But once a year they experience a catastrophic molt where they lose all their feathers at once. Since they can’t swim or fish without feathers, they fatten themselves up beforehand so they can survive during the 2-3 weeks regrowth period.
Penguins are also great walkers and will travel extremely long distances across all kinds of terrains to get to their nests or breeding grounds. But the thick layer of feathers and blubber that help keep them warm in the cold water make them prone to waddling.
In the water, their feet act like rudders which they use to control their direction. But on land, the position of their legs which are set far back on their bodies makes walking far from graceful. So waddling from side to side is just natural for the penguin anatomy and body structure.
