By Julie

A loud, braying call pierces the air. Å donkey? It could be a jackass penguin! Jackass penguins are penguins of many names. Some call them blackfoot penguins, because of their webbed feet with dark hues. Another name is the jackass penguin, because of their cry similar to a donkey or jackass. Their last name is the African penguin, because they live on islands off the coast of southern Africa. They nest in burrows dug under rocks or the small amount of vegetation. They’re known to munch on tiny fish like sardines, suncord, and anchovies. They also like squid and crustaceans. They can eat a pound of food each day! Blackfoot penguins are of average penguin size, about two feet tall. That is tall enough to peer over the end of the average piano bench. They have light bellies and black backs, flippers, and heads. A white stripe surrounds their cheeks. Pink featherless patches lay above their eyes. A horseshoe-shaped band crosses their chests. They also have black spots on their chests that are unique to every penguin like human fingerprints! African penguins have a population on about 180,000 birds, one of the smallest penguin species! They are recognized as “vulnerable” because of oil spills and habitat loss. Possibly due to this, jackass penguins are some of the least-studied penguin species. Watching this sparse species of penguins dive in and out of the waves searching for a meal would be nothing less than a great pleasure.
NOTE: This nonfiction paragraph I researched and wrote on my own time.