Why don’t penguins fly? The answer lies in the way penguins evolved, or changed slowly 1 thousands of years. Birds generally fly to find food, to avoid danger, and to reach safe places for building nests and raising their young. But as ancient penguins evolved, they filled niches, or special roles in their habitat, 2 none of these reasons applied. As seabirds, penguins find their food by swimming and diving, rather 3 flying. Their cold, isolated home in Antarctica and 4 distant places have few dangerous animals to avoid. And most penguins nest near the seashore, so they don’t need to fly to raise their young. As a result 5 these circumstances, penguins evolved into flightless birds. 6 penguins are frequent swimmers, it’s 7 surprise that they evolved strong abilities in this area. Penguins have 8 adaptations, or special features that help animals live in their environment, for living in water, especially cold water.