Penguins are aquatic, flightless birds that are highly adapted to life in the water. Their distinct tuxedo-like appearance is called counter-shading, a form of camouflage that helps keep them safe in the water. Penguins do have wing-bones, though they are flipper-like and extremely suited to swimming. Penguins are found almost exclusively in the southern hemisphere, where they catch their food underwater and raise their young on land.
The grey go-away-bird, also known as grey lourie, grey loerie, or kwêvoël, is a bold and common bird of the southern Afrotropics. They have an almost uniform smoky-grey plumage with long tails and (similar to mousebirds) a wispy, back-swept crest of some 6 to 7 cm in length. The crest can be raised almost vertically when excited. The strong, decurved beak is black and the gape and tongue strikingly pink. The plumage is darkest grey on the chin and throat, and palest around the eyes and on the belly. The breast plumage is washed slightly olive like that of its near relative, the bare-faced go-away-bird.
The pied starling or African pied starling, is a bird endemic to South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. It is common in most of this range, but largely absent from the arid northwest and the eastern lowlands of South Africa. It is found in open habitats such as grassland, Karoo scrub, thorn-bush and agricultural land, and often associates with farm animals.
