5 minute read
Emperor penguin life cycle
ENVIRONMENT
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Life cycle of the emperor penguin
Discover the incredible endurance of Earth’s biggest penguins and how they survive the bitter Antarctic
While the northern hemisphere experiences winter between December and February, winter in the Antarctic takes place between June and August. One of the only creatures to endure the -30-degree-Celsius (-22-degree-Fahrenheit) temperatures and 160-kilometre (100-mile)-perhour winds of Antarctica’s harsh winters is the emperor penguin. The stalwart males in particular spend the entire winter in the unforgiving landscape of the frozen continent’s exposed open ice.
While pretty much all other Antarctic wildlife heads for milder climes, the emperor penguins stick it out. The reason they do this is so that the new chicks will be fully fl edged in midsummer when survival rates are much higher.
It’s a treacherous 12 months in the life of an emperor penguin, but their resilience and dedication to caring for a single precious egg for months on end is simply extraordinary.
The emperor penguin is the tallest and heaviest of all living penguin species and is endemic to Antarctica
The statistics…
Emperor penguin
Type: Bird Genus: Aptenodytes Diet: Carnivore, eg fi sh, squid
Average life span in the wild:
15-20 years Height: Up to 130cm (51in)
Weight:
25-45kg (55-100lb)
It’s cold out there…
Home to the lowest temperature ever recorded at the Earth’s surface, Antarctica can get seriously chilly during winter
Average monthly temperatures in °C 0
-5
-10
-15
-20
-25
-30 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
DID YOU KNOW?
The emperor penguin is the world’s deepest-diving bird, able to plunge 565m (1,850ft) underwater!
A year with the emperors
What goes on over the course of 12 months in a community of the planet’s biggest penguins? 1 Feeding: January-February
At the start of the year, the adult emperor penguins head out to sea to feast and make the most of the more accessible food in the summer months.
2 Winter draws in: March
Temperatures begin to plummet from March, and over the coming months the region will be battered by freezing winds and bitterly cold temperatures.
3 Home to breed: April
The male and female emperors return from feeding and make their way to the breeding grounds in the south. Despite the fact that a colony can contain anywhere up to 12,000 pairs about 15 per cent of couples hook up with their mates from the previous year.
4 Breeding: May
After mating, the female emperor penguins lay a single egg, which they immediately leave in the safe hands (or perhaps more accurately the ‘safe feet’) of their male partner. With the absence of a nest the male rests the egg on his feet beneath an insulating fl ap of warm, feathery skin.
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1 5 Females feed: May
With the egg safely in the care of the males at the breeding ground the females then embark on a treacherous expedition back out to sea. They can trek around 80-160 kilometres (50-100 miles) to the edge of the ice pack in search of vital food.
6 Incubating: June-July
For nine long weeks each male alone will protect his egg in his brood pouch. During this time he will have nothing to eat and conditions on the ice will grow increasingly hostile. To conserve heat, the fathers huddle in a tightly packed group. Once the penguins on the inside of the huddle have warmed up they will migrate to the outer edge to give other penguins a chance to thaw out. It’s a bit like a penguin conveyor belt.
7 Hatching: August
In August – usually before the females return home from feeding – the chicks will begin to hatch. To reduce the number of breakages, emperor penguin eggs have an extra-thick shell, which accounts for over one-sixth of the egg’s weight, and it can take several days for the chick to break through. Once hatched the young penguin will maintain its position beneath the fl ap of skin above the adult’s feet. Any unlucky chicks that fall out of the brood pouch are likely to perish within minutes because of the sub-zero temperatures.
8 Females return: September
With their stomachs full the female penguins return to the nesting ground just after the chicks have hatched. Their unique calls help them to locate their mates among the throngs of penguins. Upon being reunited with their young family they will regurgitate a meal stored in their bellies for their chicks.
9 Males feed: September
Relieved of their chick-sitting duties the male emperors head to sea to forage for themselves. Having shed up to half their body weight they are very hungry indeed. The parents then take it in turns to head off in search of food.
10 Crèches: October-November
As winter begins to subside the growing chicks will leave the warmth of their parents’ brood pouches after about seven weeks. Their downy feathers will moult and their coats will eventually toughen up to form a waterproof covering. To stay warm the chicks huddle in small groups called crèches.
11 Fledged: December
The warmer weather melts the pack ice so that it breaks up, effectively bringing the sea closer to the colony. Fully fl edged chicks will now rejoin their parents and take their fi rst dip.
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