Emperor Penguins Aptenodytes Forsteri

Basic Facts Type: Flightless Bird Size: Up to 4 feet Avg. Weight: 88 lbs. Diet: Carnivore Lifespan: years Total Population: 200,000 pairs. Colony Population: ,000 pairs. Largest of all penguins. Have physiological adaptations and cooperative behaviors to deal with their harsh environment.

Physical Description Big head and a short, thick, neck with a streamlined shape body. Short wedge shaped tail and tiny flipper like wings. Both sexes look alike with bluish-grey upperparts and blackish-blue heads with large white and yellow ear patches. Their upperparts are mostly white with a pale yellow upper breast. Like most penguins, they have shiny waterproof feathers that keep their skin dry and webbed feet that enable them to swim.

Geographic Location Strictly in Antarctica Weddel and Ross Sea regions Droning Maud Land Princess Elizabeth Lands

Habitat Emperor Penguins do not go on solid land. They live only on pack ice and in the surrounding oceans. The weather can get extremely harsh with temperatures lower than - 60 degrees Fahrenheit and wind speeds of 180 km per hour. Almost no sun in the winter, though the penguins get to see the Southern Lights.

Diet Although most penguins feed on a main diet of crustaceans (krill), Emperor Penguins feed on fish and squid as well.

Diving Emperor Penguins dive deeper than any other bird. Most of their dives are between 100 meters and 200 meters, but can occasionally be deeper. The deepest penguin dive recorded was 565 meters. On average, the Emperor Penguin can hold its breath for 3 to 6 minutes. There were two Emperor Penguins recorded to last 22 minutes underwater. Although it can only reach speeds of around 6-8km per hour, it can twist and change direction quickly to catch prey.

Breeding Start at the end of the summer in March. Breed once a year. Because they mainly live in the ocean, they walk inland to their breeding sites, called Rookeries. This can be as far as 70 miles. Each colony returns to the same exact spot every year where each of them was born. They have done this for over 1000 years. Since these penguins rarely go on solid land, there is no nest built. A single egg is laid in May to early June.

The March Each winter the penguins will march to the breeding site together. Sometimes it can be as far as 70 miles away from the sea. They walk continuously through the day and night. They may become lost at one point, but one of them eventually picks up the trail. Some will not make it. They binge eat in the months before so they don’t starve during the March.

Why? How? Far from water predators. Ice is thicker here and stays solid until summer. This is beneficial to the chicks. Maybe they follow the sun, maybe the stars, or maybe they just know it from 1000’s of years experience doing it.

Finding a Mate Once all of the penguins have arrived at the rookery, the search for a mate begins. Usually they find what they are looking for within a week and you can tell when they have. They only have one partner per year. They don’t necessarily keep the same partner the following year.

Once a mate is chosen, it is time to reproduce. The female lays an egg and almost immediately passes it to the male. They must be very careful passing the egg and will sometimes practice this. It is the MALE that will incubate the egg for 2 months, while the Female heads back to sea for food. If the egg is accidentally exposed to the ice or freezing winds, the chick will die within a couple of minutes. If the chick is born and the female has not returned yet, the male, even though he has fasted for four months, has a milky substance stored in a crease in his throat. He can regurgitate this for the chick to eat. It will last the chick at least a day. If the mother does not make it back in time for the chick to eat, the father will abandon the chick, and return to sea to feed himself.

To stay warm, the male penguins huddle close together during the winter storms. They will take turns rotating from the inside of the huddle to the outside, making sure each gets some time in the middle. The male penguins are faced with a fierce winter and their movement is very restricted. This is because they balance the egg on their feet under their belly pouch, called a brood. (This protects the egg from the freezing weather).

When the female returns (usually they all return together), she finds her mate and chick by calling out to her mate. She waits for him to answer. Once reunited, the chick is immediately passed back to the mother, in the same way that the egg was passed. She regurgitates food for the chick. The father now heads back to sea for food. Before his departure, father penguin and chick sing to each other in order to remember each other. This could be the last time they see each other. The goodbye is very hard for both of them. The fathers leave but not all will make it back. They face a 70 mile trip after fasting for 4 months and losing half their body weight.

As Winter Ends… Chicks can run free. August- mothers leave again for food except this time the chicks are left alone. Fathers return in the Spring and will now take turns with the mothers going back and forth for food. September- the ice is becoming very thin and cracks, allowing for more frequent trips. November- the ocean is only 100 yards from the breeding site. December- the chicks decide it is time to go home and all together, they dive into the water and go. They will live in the water until they are about 4 years old when they begin breeding. This is when they will begin the March.

Losing a Chick This is very heartbreaking for a mother or father due to the strong bond they have. In some cases a mother will try and steal another chick. The colony will not allow her to.

Natural Predators Leopard Seals (most dangerous: they can eat up to 15 penguins a day). Killer Whales Giant Petrel

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