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Penguin Awareness Day

Animal · January 20

Penguin Awareness Day invites a closer look at penguins: how they are built for cold water, how they raise chicks, and where they live.

Penguin Awareness Day falls on Wednesday, January 20, 2027. That is 85 days away.

Penguins are birds that traded flight for swimming. Their wings became stiff flippers, their bones are denser than those of flying birds, and their bodies are shaped to slip through water. Penguin Awareness Day is a chance to look at these birds a little more closely.

Start with the coat. A penguin's feathers are short and packed tightly, and many species have a layer of fat underneath. The colors do quiet work too. A dark back blends with deep water when seen from above, and a pale belly blends with the bright surface when seen from below. It is camouflage that works from two directions at once.

Not every penguin lives on ice. Some species live on the coasts of South America, southern Africa, Australia and New Zealand, and one lives near the equator in the Galapagos Islands. Nearly all wild penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere, so any penguin an American meets is most likely in an aquarium or zoo.

Parenting is often a shared job. In many species both parents take turns keeping the egg warm and fetching food. Emperor penguins skip the nest entirely; the male balances the egg on his feet under a fold of skin through the coldest part of the winter.

If you visit penguins at an aquarium, watch them underwater rather than on the rocks. On land they waddle. In the water they turn and dart with surprising speed.

Ways to celebrate

• Watch a penguin webcam from an accredited aquarium or zoo.
• Learn to tell apart three penguin species by their markings.
• Read a library book about how penguins raise their chicks.
• Visit an aquarium's penguin exhibit and watch them swim underwater.
• Pick up litter near a beach or waterway to help keep oceans clean.

Dates

All national days on January 20

Also on January 20

• National Cheese Lover's Day
• National Coffee Break Day
• National Buttercrunch Day
• National Disc Jockey Day
• Take a Walk Outdoors Day

Categories: Animal days