Why do these creatures have wings?

I have been pondering this for two days now avoiding Google to provide the answer.

But I just don't know.

So they can still wave to each other from across the road.

Right I resorted to Google . . .

http://www.life123.com/home-garden/green-living/chickens/chickens-wings-cant-fly.shtml

Who says chickens can’t fly?

While some chickens in captivity have their wings clipped to prevent them from flying, chickens are born with the ability to fly. Granted, they can’t fly particularly high or over long distances, but in the wild they sleep in treetops to evade predators such as foxes, and even in a hen house they will fly up to the perches.

Since they are ground feeders with no migratory habits, they only need to be able to fly a short distance to escape from danger. Centuries of human interference breeding hens for their eggs and fattening them up for the dinner table has also ensured hens are fatter and heavier, so they can’t fly as far.

To cover Emu's . . .

What are vestigial wings?

In other birds, like the flightless cormorant, the wings show signs of vestigiality (a remnant of a limb or organ no longer necessary for survival that remains in a reduced capacity). This is because the cormorant lives in a small contained habitat, in this case the Galapagos Islands, with no migratory habits. The birds live, breed and feed in an area within 100 meters of the shoreline of the Fernandina and Isabela islands, and until recently, had no predators on the islands. Since they hunt in the sea, they had no need to fly.

Penguins fly under water.

I like penguins.

That docu-film Walk of the Emporers was fantastic.