Built low to the ground with an abundant amount of body fat, these birds have a relatively small surface area for exposure. Even their feet are cold adapted, having extra large blood vessels on the bottom to keep them from freezing on the ice. Most of the Penguins day is spent in the water rather than on ice qualifying them as the largest seabird. While they can't fly, their wings have been modified to the shape of a flipper. They are powerful swimmers capable of diving over 800 feet down in search of food.
Penguins breed on the ice in large groups called rookeries.
The male penguin incubates the egg by holding it on top of his feet an covering it with his feathers for up to 2 months. To see how a Penguins blubber protects it from the cold, you can try this simple experiment. Get a large pan of ice water and a can of vegetable shortening. Cover one of your hands with vegetable shortening and leave the other uncovered. Put both hands in the ice water and compare how the two feel when exposed to the cold.