Emperor Penguins: Family in the Frozen Wilderness

Emperor penguins are a well-known, flightless bird belonging to the Antarctic regions. These are the tallest among penguins, an individual being 45 inches (114 centimeters) tall on average. Emperor penguins spend their entire lives in the Antarctic regions. They survive through clever adaptations for breeding, raising their young, and eating.

One such adaptation is their reproduction and parenting. Emperor penguins breed in the winter season. After several weeks, the female emperor penguin lays a single egg. This egg is left behind by the female to be taken care of by the male emperor penguin father.

However, the mother is certainly not careless! Rather, the female emperor penguin must hunt for food by traveling, sometimes more than 50 miles (80 kilometers) just to reach the open ocean. Here, she will feed on fish, squid, and krill. This search for food can last for almost two months!

Meanwhile, the egg left behind by the female emperor penguin is protected by the male emperor penguin. Instead of sitting on the egg to keep it warm, he stands with the egg protected in a layer of feathered skin. This layer of feathered skin is known as the brood pouch. Thus, the emperor penguin father balances the egg on his feet as it is kept warm by his brood pouch.

In the two months of protecting the egg, he eats nothing and is left completely unprotected in the Antarctic. However, in order to keep warm, penguins do cooperate and huddle together to survive the harsh weather, where wind chills can reach −76°F (−60°C). Penguins even take turns moving between the warmer inside and chilly outside of the group.

Thus, the male emperor penguins stand for about 65 days, through icy temperatures, harsh winds, and cruel storms. Finally, the penguin eggs hatch, one after another! Soon after, the females return from the Antarctic Ocean waters. The females regurgitate the food they had fed on to feed their newly hatched chicks. Meanwhile, the male emperor penguins leave to search for food for themselves in the Antarctic seas.

Now, it is the responsibility of the female emperor penguins to care for their young chicks within the warmth of their own brood pouches. Outside of this warm cocoon, a chick could die in just a few minutes.

Want to watch how emperor penguin eggs hatch, giving rise to young chicks? Watch this video to see the amazing process!