By Julie

About our next penguin: when people here the words “macaroni penguin”, they’re likely to think either “You’re kidding!” or “I’m hungry!” These delicious critters even live on South Sandwich Island! These penguins are actually named for hats called “macaroni” hats. They had feathers in them, like the macaroni penguin crests, and were worn by 18th century men called “macaronis”. This is also where the song “Yankee Doodle” came from! Macaroni penguins are the largest crested penguin. They get their orangey-yellow crests as adults. Crests are like little tufts of yellow and orange feathers sticking out of the sides of some types of penguins’ heads. Macaronis look a bit like Royal penguins, but Royals have white chins. Macaronis have white bellies, and backs and heads as black as coal-colored licorice. Macaronis and social, and spend lots of time together. Little baby penguins huddle into crèches, like many other kinds of penguins. Crèches are little little groups or huddles. Lovelace, from the movie Happy Feet, is most likely a macaroni. But these penguins don’t live in the snow with adélies, they live on islands like South Sandwich and South Georgia Island. These penguins breed the furthest south of the crested group, and don’t migrate. There are nearly 12 million pairs of these birds, making them the most abundant penguins on Earth! Macaronis sometimes forge and indulge their meals of fish and squid after dark. To troop around, macaronis hop on both feet. You’ll find these distinguished macaroni penguins to add a formal touch to the world of penguin curiosity.
NOTE: This nonfiction paragraph was written for a school project