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Q: Are penguins birds?

A:Penguins are indeed birds.Penguins have feathers, beaks, wings (which they use as flippers to swim), scaly feet, as well as all the other characteristics of birds.Penguins evolved from flighted birds some 40,000,000 years ago - they gave up the power of flight in exchange for the ability to dive to great depths and exploit the rich cool waters of the Southern Oceans.

Q: What is the collective name for a group of penguins?

A: There is no generally accepted collective noun for penguins. A large breeding group is commonly refered to as a "colony" of penguins. The place where they breed is variously known as a "Rookery" or "Penguinery"; both these terms are also sometimes used to describe a large group of penguins on the land.

However, penguins usually spend most of their time in the sea; a group floating on the surface is sometimes called a "raft" of penguins.

Q: How do penguins sleep?

A: Different species of penguin sleep at different times and in different ways. Most penguins only take short naps. However, a few species (such as the Fairy penguins) come ashore every night and sleep for a few hours in their burrows. The other penguins spend most of their time at sea (some live at sea for more than 9 months of the year never coming ashore) and must sleep at sea - but no-one has been able to observe this behaviour yet.

Q: How tall is the tallest penguin?

A: The largest living penguins are the Emperors. Emperor penguins stand around 1.2metres tall and weigh around 40kg. However, in the fossil records penguin bones have been found which suggest there were some now extinct penguins that may have been as tall as 2 metres!