Penguins Win Me Over
I first became enamored of penguins at the Bronx Zoo’s old “Penguin House”. Twice a day, a door would open and a pail of fish would be tossed into the exhibit. Fashioned like a giant aquarium, the exhibit allowed visitors to watch the penguins dive and grab their meals underwater. Living near the zoo, I had long haunted its grounds and had racked up some great sightings of both captive and wild birds by an early age (nearly 300 native species have been recorded there) – but these creatures were something else indeed! They were birds, to be sure, but departed so radically from the typical bird body-plan that I was driven to learn all I could.
Today, of course, penguins are well known, but for us bird fanciers they still retain a sense of mystery…more so as new facts about their amazing lifestyles come to light! Read More »