At the Central Park Zoo, we value the input and research that comes from our penguin conservation scientists worldwide. In this game, you are going to become the penguin scientist by doing a Penguin Census!

A census is a survey which counts the amount of animals in a population. You will look at pictures of penguins and penguin colonies, and count the amount of different penguins you see and try to identify species, just like scientists do in the wild. Not sure if you’re right or not? Don’t worry! The questions are multiple choice, so if you think you missed a penguin or two you can estimate.

You will be asked about the species of penguin, the age of the penguin, and even the behaviors of the penguins in the picture. In some cases, there will be a picture of just one penguin, and you will have to know the species and the behavior. This might sound complicated, but you’ll get the hang of it! Here we go:

First, let’s talk about the difference between juvenile (young) penguins and adult penguins. Juveniles are smaller than the adults, and they are typically brown or grey. They’ll stand out in the colony.

Next, let’s talk about behaviors. The behaviors you’ll see are: standing, lying down, preening, and molting. When the penguins are standing, they will be vertical and their feet will be on the ground. When the penguins are lying down, their belly will be on the ground. When they are preening, or grooming themselves, their beak will be in their feathers. When they are molting, their feathers will be falling off and a new coat of feathers will be underneath. Pretty easy, right?

Now, here’s the harder part. There will be 5 different species of penguins in the pictures; these species represent the penguins you can see at Central Park Zoo and the New York Aquarium! Each of these penguins look different, but it still might be tricky to tell them apart. Here are some tips:

• Gentoo penguins have a black head, with a white spot above their eye. They also have a reddish beak.

• African penguins also have white on their head, but they also have a pink spot surrounding their eye. Their beak is all black.

• King penguins are one of the easiest to identify, since they are large and have a bright yellow ring around their neck and yellow on their head.

• Chinstrap penguins can be identified by their black head and the black “chin strap” under their beak, hence the name chinstrap penguin.

• Macaroni penguins can be identified by the bright yellow crests of feathers coming out of their head.