Why can't penguins fly??

Question

why can't penguins fly?? i mean they have wings but why not???

Answer 1

From a biomechanical viewpoint, there are several reasons. Here are some of them:

- No remiges (=flight feathers), and very reduced/absent steering rectrices (=tail feathers) . They do have contour feathers and very dense down feathers for insulation. The smooth feather cover provides a very hydrodynamic surface.
- Relatively dense bones (flying birds have very light, hollow bones)
- Modified forelimb skeleton: flat rigid bones that form a flipper (hydrodynamic foil)
- Body fat reserves (flying birds usually don't have much fat that would make them heavier)


In turn, these represent adaptations to their current habitat/habits.
Penguins 'fly' under water; they use the same wing movements as flying birds. They have a keeled sternum and powerful pectoral muscles.

From an evolutionary perspective, the answer to your question is Because they evolved in a different direction.

Answer 2

Penguins in the southern hemisphere and auks in the northern hemisphere fill the same ecological niche. Auks use their wings for flight in air and for propulsion underwater. There is a limit to the size of the bird where this is possible. The largest of the auks, the now extinct Great Auk, could noy fly and used its wings solely for swimming. The Great Auk was about the size of a Gentoo Penguin. The smallest of the penguins, the Little Penguin is about the same size as the largest of the auks, the guillemots. This is the size limit for wing-propelled divers that can also fly.

Penguin wings evolved into flippers. The largest of the penguins today is the Emperor Penguin at 1.2m in height. There have been fossils of larger penguins found with Anthropornis nordenskjoeldi of Seymour Island reaching 1.7m and Pachydyptes ponderosus, the New Zealand giant penguin, 1.6m. These birds lived 45 to 35 million years ago.

Answer 3

Penguins belong to a group called Sphenisciformes, in which all species are flightless and aquatic.

Penguins have some of the same characteristics of many diving birds, but they have evolved additional features that reflect their highly aquatic lifestyle, such as the reduction and fusion of the wing bones into paddle-like flippers. Also, rather than having hollow bones as flying birds do, penguins have solid heavy bones that function as ballast (weight) for more efficient diving. Furthermore, penguins actually use their wings for moving under water much like any other bird does to move through the air; such that many people remark that penguins appear to be “flying” through the water.

Answer 4

They are designed to 'fly' underwater. They do not have flight feathers like other birds. Instead their wings are shaped like flippers and are coated with very small insulative feathers that have a more fur-like role.

Penguins have evolved to feed at sea, catching fish by swimming underwater sometimes at great depths. They are able to stay submerged for minutes at a time. All species breed on land - so not being able to fly is a disadvantage, as they have to face predators on foot, sometimes walking miles in adverse conditions, as in the case of the emperor penguin.

Hope this explains!

Answer 5

Flightless birds like the ostrich generally lose their flight muscles and their furcula or wishbone, which is where some of the flight muscles are attached. Penguins, OTOH, retain their wishbone and flight muscles because they fly underwater. They often fly directly from the water onto land as well.

Answer 6

penguins cant fly because they are fishing and swimming birds. they are too heavy to fly and their wings are too small.

Answer 7

Watch Happy Feet, because they were meant to dance!
That, and their wings are a little too small for their body size, they are too heavy, and their "wings" are meant for water dynamics, not air.

Answer 8

They can. they just fly through the water because they are to heavy to fly in the air

Answer 9

I just had a test on this in science.Penguins can't fly because the dont have contour feather which give birds their shape,color,and steering.Secondly they dont have hollow bones like other birds.

Answer 10

They fly in water.